Mizuho Cuts Essex Property Trust (NYSE:ESS) Price Target to $300.00

Essex Property Trust (NYSE:ESS) had its price objective cut by equities researchers at Mizuho from $325.00 to $300.00 in a note issued to investors on Monday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage presently has an “outperform” rating on the real estate investment trust’s stock. Mizuho’s price target indicates a potential upside of 10.89% from the stock’s previous close.

Other equities analysts have also issued reports about the stock. BNP Paribas began coverage on shares of Essex Property Trust in a research report on Wednesday, September 11th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $333.00 price objective for the company. Bank of America cut shares of Essex Property Trust from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and upped their price target for the stock from $307.00 to $321.00 in a report on Tuesday, September 24th. Raymond James lowered Essex Property Trust from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research note on Monday, October 21st. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised their price target on Essex Property Trust from $240.00 to $308.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, September 10th. Finally, Scotiabank boosted their price objective on Essex Property Trust from $309.00 to $329.00 and gave the stock a “sector outperform” rating in a report on Monday, September 16th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have assigned a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $305.17.

Essex Property Trust Stock Performance

Shares of ESS stock opened at $270.55 on Monday. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $294.89 and its 200 day moving average is $291.62. The stock has a market capitalization of $17.39 billion, a P/E ratio of 31.61, a PEG ratio of 5.86 and a beta of 0.92. Essex Property Trust has a 12 month low of $223.06 and a 12 month high of $317.73. The company has a current ratio of 1.14, a quick ratio of 1.14 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.13.

Essex Property Trust (NYSE:ESS) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 29th. The real estate investment trust reported $1.84 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.88 by ($2.04). Essex Property Trust had a return on equity of 9.72% and a net margin of 31.55%. The company had revenue of $450.70 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $445.88 million. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $3.78 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Essex Property Trust will post 15.56 earnings per share for the current year.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. TD Asset Management Inc boosted its position in Essex Property Trust by 3.6% during the 2nd quarter. TD Asset Management Inc now owns 21,962 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $5,978,000 after buying an additional 768 shares during the period. National Bank of Canada FI boosted its holdings in shares of Essex Property Trust by 24.4% during the second quarter. National Bank of Canada FI now owns 17,642 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $4,813,000 after purchasing an additional 3,455 shares during the period. Victory Capital Management Inc. grew its stake in shares of Essex Property Trust by 23.8% in the second quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 56,595 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $15,405,000 after purchasing an additional 10,889 shares during the last quarter. Acadian Asset Management LLC purchased a new position in Essex Property Trust during the 2nd quarter valued at about $1,113,000. Finally, Oak Thistle LLC bought a new position in Essex Property Trust during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $967,000. Institutional investors own 96.51% of the company’s stock.

About Essex Property Trust

Essex Property Trust, Inc, an S&P 500 company, is a fully integrated real estate investment trust (REIT) that acquires, develops, redevelops, and manages multifamily residential properties in selected West Coast markets. Essex currently has ownership interests in 252 apartment communities comprising approximately 62,000 apartment homes with an additional property in active development.