Essex Property Trust (NYSE:ESS) Reaches New 12-Month Low on Analyst Downgrade

Shares of Essex Property Trust, Inc. (NYSE:ESS – Get Rating) reached a new 52-week low during trading on Wednesday after Morgan Stanley lowered their price target on the stock from $343.00 to $313.00. Morgan Stanley currently has an equal weight rating on the stock. Essex Property Trust traded as low as $277.03 and last traded at $278.01, with a volume of 14520 shares trading hands. The stock had previously closed at $282.83.

A number of other equities analysts have also recently weighed in on ESS. Mizuho lowered their price objective on shares of Essex Property Trust from $382.00 to $342.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, February 16th. Scotiabank reduced their target price on shares of Essex Property Trust from $340.00 to $333.00 in a report on Thursday, May 19th. Piper Sandler reduced their target price on shares of Essex Property Trust from $420.00 to $400.00 in a report on Wednesday, May 4th. Barclays lowered shares of Essex Property Trust from an “equal weight” rating to an “underweight” rating and reduced their target price for the stock from $367.00 to $310.00 in a report on Tuesday, May 10th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group upgraded shares of Essex Property Trust from a “sell” rating to a “buy” rating and reduced their target price for the stock from $352.00 to $338.00 in a report on Tuesday, May 17th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Essex Property Trust presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $352.07.

In other news, COO Angela L. Kleiman sold 6,309 shares of Essex Property Trust stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $354.21, for a total value of $2,234,710.89. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CEO Michael J. Schall sold 12,132 shares of Essex Property Trust stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $349.19, for a total transaction of $4,236,373.08. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 3.70% of the company’s stock.

Several large investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. US Bancorp DE boosted its holdings in Essex Property Trust by 1.4% during the third quarter. US Bancorp DE now owns 2,941 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $941,000 after buying an additional 40 shares in the last quarter. BOKF NA acquired a new position in Essex Property Trust during the third quarter worth about $225,000. Public Sector Pension Investment Board raised its position in Essex Property Trust by 7.8% during the third quarter. Public Sector Pension Investment Board now owns 10,975 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $3,509,000 after acquiring an additional 790 shares during the last quarter. Hennion & Walsh Asset Management Inc. raised its position in Essex Property Trust by 72.1% during the third quarter. Hennion & Walsh Asset Management Inc. now owns 1,153 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $369,000 after acquiring an additional 483 shares during the last quarter. Finally, First Republic Investment Management Inc. raised its position in Essex Property Trust by 5.3% during the third quarter. First Republic Investment Management Inc. now owns 18,294 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $5,849,000 after acquiring an additional 915 shares during the last quarter. 96.09% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.98, a current ratio of 1.41 and a quick ratio of 1.41. The company has a market cap of $18.18 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 46.03, a PEG ratio of 4.13 and a beta of 0.74. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $329.60 and its 200-day simple moving average is $334.97.

Essex Property Trust (NYSE:ESS – Get Rating) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, April 26th. The real estate investment trust reported $1.12 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.35 by ($2.23). Essex Property Trust had a net margin of 26.81% and a return on equity of 5.25%. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $3.07 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Essex Property Trust, Inc. will post 13.99 EPS for the current year.

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, July 15th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, June 30th will be paid a $2.20 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, June 29th. This represents a $8.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.16%. Essex Property Trust’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 145.70%.

About Essex Property Trust (NYSE:ESS)

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 246 apartment communities comprising approximately 60,000 apartment homes with an additional 6 properties in various stages of active development.

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