Amal M. Johnson Sells 7,298 Shares of Essex Property Trust, Inc. (NYSE:ESS) Stock

Essex Property Trust, Inc. (NYSE:ESS) Director Amal M. Johnson sold 7,298 shares of Essex Property Trust stock in a transaction on Tuesday, September 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $316.31, for a total transaction of $2,308,430.38. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 2,585 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $817,661.35. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink.

Essex Property Trust Trading Down 2.0 %

Shares of Essex Property Trust stock opened at $306.21 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 1.62, a quick ratio of 1.62 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.11. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $292.19 and a 200 day simple moving average of $268.35. Essex Property Trust, Inc. has a 12-month low of $203.85 and a 12-month high of $317.73. The company has a market capitalization of $19.66 billion, a P/E ratio of 37.43, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.41 and a beta of 0.88.

Essex Property Trust (NYSE:ESS) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, July 30th. The real estate investment trust reported $1.45 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.85 by ($2.40). Essex Property Trust had a net margin of 30.31% and a return on equity of 9.14%. The firm had revenue of $442.36 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $433.26 million. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $3.77 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Essex Property Trust, Inc. will post 15.53 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Essex Property Trust Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, October 11th. Stockholders of record on Monday, September 30th will be issued a $2.45 dividend. This represents a $9.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.20%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, September 30th. Essex Property Trust’s dividend payout ratio is presently 119.80%.

Institutional Trading of Essex Property Trust

Hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the business. ING Groep NV raised its stake in shares of Essex Property Trust by 14.7% during the 4th quarter. ING Groep NV now owns 5,687 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $1,410,000 after purchasing an additional 729 shares during the period. BI Asset Management Fondsmaeglerselskab A S boosted its stake in Essex Property Trust by 256.0% in the fourth quarter. BI Asset Management Fondsmaeglerselskab A S now owns 2,111 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $523,000 after acquiring an additional 1,518 shares during the last quarter. UBS Group AG grew its position in shares of Essex Property Trust by 17.4% during the 4th quarter. UBS Group AG now owns 236,140 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $58,549,000 after acquiring an additional 34,931 shares during the period. Renaissance Group LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Essex Property Trust during the 4th quarter worth approximately $229,000. Finally, Franklin Resources Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Essex Property Trust by 10.5% in the 4th quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 62,067 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $15,389,000 after purchasing an additional 5,887 shares during the period. 96.51% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

ESS has been the subject of several research analyst reports. Mizuho lifted their price objective on Essex Property Trust from $250.00 to $266.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 30th. Truist Financial lifted their target price on Essex Property Trust from $282.00 to $294.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, August 27th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft increased their price target on Essex Property Trust from $240.00 to $308.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, September 10th. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their price objective on shares of Essex Property Trust from $267.00 to $268.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 31st. Finally, Raymond James raised their price target on shares of Essex Property Trust from $295.00 to $325.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, August 29th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have issued a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $291.10.

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.