Essex Property Trust, Inc. (NYSE:ESS) to Issue $2.45 Quarterly Dividend

Essex Property Trust, Inc. (NYSE:ESS) declared a quarterly dividend on Friday, December 6th,RTT News reports. Investors of record on Thursday, January 2nd will be given a dividend of 2.45 per share by the real estate investment trust on Wednesday, January 15th. This represents a $9.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.27%.

Essex Property Trust has raised its dividend payment by an average of 3.6% annually over the last three years and has increased its dividend every year for the last 30 years. Essex Property Trust has a dividend payout ratio of 163.3% indicating that the company cannot currently cover its dividend with earnings alone and is relying on its balance sheet to cover its dividend payments. Research analysts expect Essex Property Trust to earn $16.01 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $9.80 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 61.2%.

Essex Property Trust Stock Up 0.1 %

NYSE:ESS traded up $0.29 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $299.96. The stock had a trading volume of 318,988 shares, compared to its average volume of 372,951. The company has a current ratio of 1.14, a quick ratio of 1.14 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.13. Essex Property Trust has a 1-year low of $222.30 and a 1-year high of $317.73. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $297.21 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $287.98. The company has a market cap of $19.28 billion, a PE ratio of 35.01, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.92 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 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.88 by ($2.04). Essex Property Trust had a return on equity of 9.72% and a net margin of 31.55%. The company had revenue of $450.70 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $445.88 million. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $3.78 EPS. Analysts predict that Essex Property Trust will post 15.56 EPS for the current year.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. BNP Paribas began coverage on shares of Essex Property Trust in a research report on Wednesday, September 11th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $333.00 price target for the company. Raymond James downgraded shares of Essex Property Trust from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a report on Monday, October 21st. The Goldman Sachs Group initiated coverage on shares of Essex Property Trust in a report on Wednesday, September 4th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $318.00 price objective for the company. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised their target price on Essex Property Trust from $240.00 to $308.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, September 10th. Finally, Scotiabank raised their target price on Essex Property Trust from $309.00 to $329.00 and gave the company a “sector outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, September 16th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have issued a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Essex Property Trust presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $297.00.

Insider Buying and Selling at Essex Property Trust

In related news, CAO Anne Morrison sold 2,571 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, September 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $314.79, for a total value of $809,325.09. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 2,321 shares in the company, valued at approximately $730,627.59. The trade was a 52.56 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, Director Amal M. Johnson sold 7,298 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, September 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $316.31, for a total value of $2,308,430.38. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 2,585 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $817,661.35. This trade represents a 73.84 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 17,949 shares of company stock valued at $5,663,763 in the last 90 days. 3.80% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

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.