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

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

Other research analysts have also recently issued research reports about the company. Mizuho lowered their price objective on Essex Property Trust from $325.00 to $300.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, January 6th. JMP Securities reissued a “market perform” rating on shares of Essex Property Trust in a report on Thursday. Barclays reduced their target price on Essex Property Trust from $316.00 to $302.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, January 24th. Raymond James lowered Essex Property Trust from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a report on Monday, October 21st. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised Essex Property Trust from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their price objective for the company from $308.00 to $310.00 in a research note on Tuesday, January 21st. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have given 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 $305.74.

Essex Property Trust Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:ESS traded up $2.62 on Thursday, hitting $298.41. The stock had a trading volume of 141,836 shares, compared to its average volume of 460,378. Essex Property Trust has a twelve month low of $223.06 and a twelve month high of $317.73. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.13, a quick ratio of 1.14 and a current ratio of 1.14. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $287.46 and its 200-day moving average price is $292.36. The company has a market capitalization of $19.18 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 34.81, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 6.60 and a beta of 0.92.

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

Institutional Trading of Essex Property Trust

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Legacy Wealth Asset Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Essex Property Trust by 4.7% during the 3rd quarter. Legacy Wealth Asset Management LLC now owns 775 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $229,000 after purchasing an additional 35 shares in the last quarter. CWA Asset Management Group LLC grew its stake in Essex Property Trust by 5.0% in the 4th quarter. CWA Asset Management Group LLC now owns 803 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $229,000 after buying an additional 38 shares in the last quarter. Empowered Funds LLC grew its stake in Essex Property Trust by 3.3% in the 4th quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 1,195 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $338,000 after buying an additional 38 shares in the last quarter. UMB Bank n.a. boosted its holdings in Essex Property Trust by 37.5% in the 4th quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 154 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $44,000 after purchasing an additional 42 shares during the period. Finally, Miracle Mile Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Essex Property Trust by 0.3% during the 4th quarter. Miracle Mile Advisors LLC now owns 14,157 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $4,041,000 after acquiring an additional 46 shares during the last quarter. 96.51% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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.