Essex Property Trust (NYSE:ESS) Price Target Increased to $243.50 by Analysts at Stifel Nicolaus

Essex Property Trust (NYSE:ESS) had its price objective boosted by Stifel Nicolaus from $239.50 to $243.50 in a research note issued to investors on Wednesday, Benzinga reports. Stifel Nicolaus currently has a hold rating on the real estate investment trust’s stock.

ESS has been the topic of several other research reports. The Goldman Sachs Group restated a sell rating and issued a $227.00 price objective on shares of Essex Property Trust in a research note on Thursday, February 22nd. Royal Bank of Canada raised their price target on Essex Property Trust from $237.00 to $239.00 and gave the company an outperform rating in a report on Thursday, February 8th. Bank of America upgraded shares of Essex Property Trust from a neutral rating to a buy rating and upped their price objective for the company from $250.00 to $275.00 in a report on Monday, April 1st. Jefferies Financial Group upgraded shares of Essex Property Trust from a hold rating to a buy rating and raised their target price for the stock from $215.00 to $281.00 in a research note on Tuesday, January 2nd. Finally, Piper Sandler reiterated an overweight rating and issued a $291.00 price target on shares of Essex Property Trust in a research note on Tuesday, March 26th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have given a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of Hold and a consensus target price of $247.24.

Essex Property Trust Trading Down 0.4 %

NYSE ESS opened at $245.25 on Wednesday. The company has a market cap of $15.75 billion, a PE ratio of 29.98, a PEG ratio of 3.64 and a beta of 0.79. The company has a current ratio of 3.26, a quick ratio of 3.26 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.11. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $239.53 and a 200-day moving average of $232.44. Essex Property Trust has a 12 month low of $203.85 and a 12 month high of $252.85.

Essex Property Trust Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, April 12th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 29th were issued a dividend of $2.45 per share. This is a positive change from Essex Property Trust’s previous quarterly dividend of $2.31. This represents a $9.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.00%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, March 27th. Essex Property Trust’s dividend payout ratio is 119.80%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of ESS. Cornercap Investment Counsel Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Essex Property Trust by 2.4% during the 4th quarter. Cornercap Investment Counsel Inc. now owns 1,913 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $474,000 after purchasing an additional 45 shares during the last quarter. Commerzbank Aktiengesellschaft FI grew its holdings in shares of Essex Property Trust by 1.8% during the fourth quarter. Commerzbank Aktiengesellschaft FI now owns 2,552 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $633,000 after purchasing an additional 45 shares during the last quarter. Tokio Marine Asset Management Co. Ltd. grew its holdings in shares of Essex Property Trust by 2.8% during the fourth quarter. Tokio Marine Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 1,866 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $463,000 after purchasing an additional 51 shares during the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC increased its stake in shares of Essex Property Trust by 10.3% in the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 591 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $145,000 after buying an additional 55 shares during the period. Finally, Czech National Bank raised its holdings in Essex Property Trust by 0.5% in the 1st quarter. Czech National Bank now owns 11,296 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $2,765,000 after buying an additional 55 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 96.51% of the company’s stock.

Essex Property Trust Company Profile

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.