Essex Property Trust (NYSE:ESS) Price Target Lowered to $225.00 at Stifel Nicolaus

Essex Property Trust (NYSE:ESS) had its target price decreased by Stifel Nicolaus from $226.00 to $225.00 in a report issued on Friday morning, Benzinga reports. Stifel Nicolaus currently has a hold rating on the real estate investment trust’s stock.

A number of other research firms also recently issued reports on ESS. Truist Financial downgraded Essex Property Trust from a buy rating to a hold rating and raised their price target for the stock from $255.00 to $266.00 in a research note on Monday, August 28th. Mizuho dropped their price target on shares of Essex Property Trust from $221.00 to $219.00 and set a neutral rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, September 26th. BMO Capital Markets raised shares of Essex Property Trust from an underperform rating to a market perform rating and cut their target price for the company from $235.00 to $225.00 in a research note on Thursday, November 9th. StockNews.com initiated coverage on Essex Property Trust in a report on Thursday, October 5th. They set a hold rating on the stock. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada dropped their price objective on shares of Essex Property Trust from $241.00 to $235.00 and set an outperform rating for the company in a research note on Monday, October 30th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have issued a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of Hold and an average target price of $238.44.

Essex Property Trust Stock Up 1.0 %

Shares of Essex Property Trust stock opened at $213.05 on Friday. Essex Property Trust has a twelve month low of $195.03 and a twelve month high of $248.80. The company has a quick ratio of 2.63, a current ratio of 2.63 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.09. The company’s 50 day moving average is $214.64 and its 200 day moving average is $225.56. The company has a market cap of $13.67 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.14, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.49 and a beta of 0.82.

Essex Property Trust Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, October 13th. Shareholders of record on Friday, September 29th were issued a $2.31 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, September 28th. This represents a $9.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.34%. Essex Property Trust’s payout ratio is 113.37%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Essex Property Trust

A number of institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its holdings in Essex Property Trust by 1.8% in the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 10,614,782 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $3,667,195,000 after acquiring an additional 184,047 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp grew its position in shares of Essex Property Trust by 15.0% in the first quarter. State Street Corp now owns 6,712,755 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $1,419,056,000 after purchasing an additional 874,625 shares during the period. FMR LLC increased its stake in shares of Essex Property Trust by 77.7% during the first quarter. FMR LLC now owns 2,567,309 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $536,927,000 after purchasing an additional 1,122,612 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new position in shares of Essex Property Trust during the 4th quarter worth about $476,588,000. Finally, Cohen & Steers Inc. lifted its stake in Essex Property Trust by 112.4% in the 2nd quarter. Cohen & Steers Inc. now owns 2,175,976 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $509,808,000 after buying an additional 1,151,338 shares in the last quarter. 92.93% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.