Royal Bank of Canada Issues Positive Forecast for Essex Property Trust (NYSE:ESS) Stock Price

Essex Property Trust (NYSE:ESS) had its price objective hoisted by equities research analysts at Royal Bank of Canada from $302.00 to $315.00 in a note issued to investors on Thursday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage presently has an “outperform” rating on the real estate investment trust’s stock. Royal Bank of Canada’s price objective points to a potential upside of 5.56% from the company’s current price.

A number of other equities research analysts also recently weighed in on the company. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upgraded Essex Property Trust from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their target price for the stock from $308.00 to $310.00 in a research report on Tuesday, January 21st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut shares of Essex Property Trust from a “neutral” rating to an “underweight” rating and upped their price objective for the stock from $297.00 to $303.00 in a report on Tuesday, December 17th. Mizuho decreased their price target on shares of Essex Property Trust from $325.00 to $300.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Monday, January 6th. Barclays cut their price objective on shares of Essex Property Trust from $316.00 to $302.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, January 24th. Finally, Raymond James lowered shares of Essex Property Trust from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research report on Monday, October 21st. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have given a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $305.74.

Essex Property Trust Stock Performance

NYSE:ESS traded up $2.62 during midday trading on Thursday, reaching $298.41. The stock had a trading volume of 141,836 shares, compared to its average volume of 460,378. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $287.46 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $292.36. Essex Property Trust has a 12-month low of $223.06 and a 12-month 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 stock has a market cap of $19.18 billion, a P/E ratio of 34.81, a P/E/G ratio of 6.60 and a beta of 0.92.

Essex Property Trust (NYSE:ESS) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The real estate investment trust reported $3.92 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.40 by $2.52. Essex Property Trust had a net margin of 31.55% and a return on equity of 9.72%. On average, equities analysts expect that Essex Property Trust will post 15.58 EPS for the current year.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Essex Property Trust

A number of institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Nordea Investment Management AB increased its position in shares of Essex Property Trust by 6.7% during the 4th quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 4,675 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $1,334,000 after purchasing an additional 294 shares during the period. KBC Group NV boosted its holdings in shares of Essex Property Trust by 162.7% in the 3rd quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 74,841 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $22,109,000 after acquiring an additional 46,354 shares in the last quarter. Quadrature Capital Ltd acquired a new position in shares of Essex Property Trust in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $541,000. Sanctuary Advisors LLC raised its position in shares of Essex Property Trust by 92.2% during the 3rd quarter. Sanctuary Advisors LLC now owns 2,710 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $828,000 after acquiring an additional 1,300 shares during the last quarter. Finally, ING Groep NV increased its position in shares of Essex Property Trust by 54.2% in the 3rd quarter. ING Groep NV now owns 8,587 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $2,537,000 after buying an additional 3,018 shares in the last quarter. 96.51% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.