Wedbush Raises Essex Property Trust (NYSE:ESS) Price Target to $301.00

Essex Property Trust (NYSE:ESS) had its price target increased by Wedbush from $264.00 to $301.00 in a research note released on Monday morning, Benzinga reports. Wedbush currently has a neutral rating on the real estate investment trust’s stock. Wedbush also issued estimates for Essex Property Trust’s Q3 2024 earnings at $3.88 EPS, Q4 2024 earnings at $3.90 EPS and FY2025 earnings at $16.44 EPS.

Several other brokerages also recently commented on ESS. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their target price on Essex Property Trust from $284.00 to $288.00 and gave the stock an outperform rating in a report on Thursday, August 1st. Piper Sandler reissued an overweight rating and issued a $315.00 price objective on shares of Essex Property Trust in a research note on Friday, June 28th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on Essex Property Trust from $232.00 to $269.00 and gave the company an equal weight rating in a research note on Friday, May 31st. StockNews.com raised Essex Property Trust from a sell rating to a hold rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 1st. Finally, UBS Group boosted their price objective on Essex Property Trust from $261.00 to $283.00 and gave the company a neutral rating in a research note on Thursday, July 18th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have given a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of Hold and an average target price of $266.50.

Essex Property Trust Price Performance

Shares of ESS traded up $7.77 during midday trading on Monday, hitting $280.39. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 564,028 shares, compared to its average volume of 386,860. Essex Property Trust has a one year low of $203.85 and a one year high of $292.37. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $275.21 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $253.72. The company has a quick ratio of 3.19, a current ratio of 1.62 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.11. The stock has a market capitalization of $18.00 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 34.03, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.96 and a beta of 0.86.

Essex Property Trust (NYSE:ESS) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, July 30th. The real estate investment trust reported $1.45 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $3.85 by ($2.40). The business had revenue of $442.36 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $433.26 million. Essex Property Trust had a net margin of 30.31% and a return on equity of 9.14%. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $3.77 EPS. As a group, equities analysts expect that Essex Property Trust will post 15.53 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Essex Property Trust Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, July 24th. Shareholders of record on Friday, June 28th were issued a dividend of $2.45 per share. This represents a $9.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.50%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, June 28th. Essex Property Trust’s dividend payout ratio is currently 119.80%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Essex Property Trust news, CEO Angela L. Kleiman sold 3,780 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, June 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $278.27, for a total transaction of $1,051,860.60. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 9,494 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,641,895.38. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. In other Essex Property Trust news, CEO Angela L. Kleiman sold 3,780 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, June 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $278.27, for a total transaction of $1,051,860.60. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 9,494 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,641,895.38. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, Director Keith R. Guericke sold 10,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, June 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $274.57, for a total value of $2,745,700.00. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 16,118 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,425,519.26. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 3.80% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Essex Property Trust

Institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. Lindbrook Capital LLC grew its holdings in shares of Essex Property Trust by 111.5% in the fourth quarter. Lindbrook Capital LLC now owns 110 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $27,000 after acquiring an additional 58 shares in the last quarter. Continuum Advisory LLC grew its holdings in shares of Essex Property Trust by 214.3% in the second quarter. Continuum Advisory LLC now owns 110 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $30,000 after acquiring an additional 75 shares in the last quarter. UMB Bank n.a. grew its holdings in shares of Essex Property Trust by 600.0% in the second quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 112 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $30,000 after acquiring an additional 96 shares in the last quarter. Family Firm Inc. purchased a new position in Essex Property Trust in the second quarter valued at approximately $31,000. Finally, Venturi Wealth Management LLC lifted its stake in Essex Property Trust by 112.3% in the first quarter. Venturi Wealth Management LLC now owns 138 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $34,000 after purchasing an additional 73 shares during the last quarter. 96.51% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

About Essex Property Trust

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.