Essex Property Trust (NYSE:ESS) Price Target Cut to $305.00 by Analysts at Wells Fargo & Company

Essex Property Trust (NYSE:ESS) had its price objective lowered by Wells Fargo & Company from $314.00 to $305.00 in a research report released on Friday morning,Benzinga reports. Wells Fargo & Company currently has an equal weight rating on the real estate investment trust’s stock.

Other analysts have also issued reports about the stock. Mizuho cut their target price on shares of Essex Property Trust from $325.00 to $300.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, January 6th. JMP Securities restated a “market perform” rating on shares of Essex Property Trust in a report on Thursday, January 16th. BMO Capital Markets upgraded Essex Property Trust from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and decreased their price objective for the stock from $323.00 to $310.00 in a research report on Monday, January 13th. Barclays decreased their price target on shares of Essex Property Trust from $316.00 to $302.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Friday. Finally, Raymond James downgraded shares of Essex Property Trust from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research report on Monday, October 21st. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have assigned a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $304.32.

Essex Property Trust Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:ESS opened at $277.43 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 1.14, a quick ratio of 1.14 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.13. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $291.40 and its two-hundred day moving average is $291.96. The firm has a market capitalization of $17.83 billion, a P/E ratio of 32.41, a PEG ratio of 5.36 and a beta of 0.92. Essex Property Trust has a 52 week low of $223.06 and a 52 week high of $317.73.

Essex Property Trust (NYSE:ESS) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 29th. The real estate investment trust reported $1.84 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $3.88 by ($2.04). The business had revenue of $450.70 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $445.88 million. Essex Property Trust had a return on equity of 9.72% and a net margin of 31.55%. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $3.78 EPS. Analysts anticipate that Essex Property Trust will post 15.58 earnings per share for the current year.

Essex Property Trust Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, January 15th. Investors of record on Thursday, January 2nd were issued a $2.45 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, January 2nd. This represents a $9.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.53%. Essex Property Trust’s dividend payout ratio is presently 114.49%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Essex Property Trust

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in ESS. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in Essex Property Trust by 1.5% during the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,726,072 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $508,381,000 after acquiring an additional 25,591 shares during the last quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA increased its position in shares of Essex Property Trust by 16.1% in the 3rd quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 1,329,516 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $392,766,000 after buying an additional 183,947 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its stake in Essex Property Trust by 6.7% during the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 754,179 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $222,800,000 after buying an additional 47,114 shares during the period. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC lifted its holdings in Essex Property Trust by 732.9% during the third quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 719,596 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $212,583,000 after acquiring an additional 633,200 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. grew its stake in Essex Property Trust by 154.7% in the third quarter. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. now owns 444,391 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $131,282,000 after acquiring an additional 269,923 shares during the period. 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.