Essex Property Trust (NYSE:ESS) Downgraded to Underweight Rating by JPMorgan Chase & Co.

JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered shares of Essex Property Trust (NYSE:ESS) from a neutral rating to an underweight rating in a report published on Tuesday, MarketBeat.com reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. currently has $303.00 price objective on the real estate investment trust’s stock, up from their previous price objective of $297.00.

Several other equities analysts have also recently commented on ESS. Scotiabank lifted their target price on shares of Essex Property Trust from $309.00 to $329.00 and gave the stock a “sector outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, September 16th. Raymond James cut Essex Property Trust from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research report on Monday, October 21st. Bank of America lowered Essex Property Trust from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and raised their target price for the company from $307.00 to $321.00 in a research report on Tuesday, September 24th. Truist Financial boosted their price target on shares of Essex Property Trust from $282.00 to $294.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, August 27th. Finally, Piper Sandler raised their price objective on shares of Essex Property Trust from $315.00 to $355.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, August 26th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have assigned a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $302.11.

Essex Property Trust Stock Performance

Shares of Essex Property Trust stock opened at $294.11 on Tuesday. Essex Property Trust has a 52 week low of $223.06 and a 52 week high of $317.73. The company has a quick ratio of 1.14, a current ratio of 1.14 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.13. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $298.42 and a 200-day moving average price of $290.64. The company has a market cap of $18.90 billion, a PE ratio of 34.36, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.86 and a beta of 0.90.

Essex Property Trust (NYSE:ESS) last released 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). The company had revenue of $450.70 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $445.88 million. Essex Property Trust had a net margin of 31.55% and a return on equity of 9.72%. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $3.78 earnings per share. Equities analysts anticipate that Essex Property Trust will post 15.56 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Essex Property Trust Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, January 15th. Investors of record on Thursday, January 2nd will be paid a $2.45 dividend. This represents a $9.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.33%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, January 2nd. Essex Property Trust’s payout ratio is 114.49%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Essex Property Trust

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Franklin Resources Inc. boosted its position in shares of Essex Property Trust by 7.4% during the third quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 48,200 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $14,043,000 after purchasing an additional 3,316 shares in the last quarter. Tidal Investments LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Essex Property Trust by 99.9% during the 3rd quarter. Tidal Investments LLC now owns 3,297 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $974,000 after buying an additional 1,648 shares in the last quarter. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB purchased a new stake in shares of Essex Property Trust in the 3rd quarter worth about $217,000. World Investment Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Essex Property Trust in the 3rd quarter worth about $575,000. Finally, Sanctuary Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of Essex Property Trust by 92.2% in the 3rd quarter. Sanctuary Advisors LLC now owns 2,710 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $828,000 after acquiring an additional 1,300 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors 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.