Piper Sandler Raises Essex Property Trust (NYSE:ESS) Price Target to $315.00

Essex Property Trust (NYSE:ESS) had its price objective hoisted by Piper Sandler from $291.00 to $315.00 in a report released on Monday morning, Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has an overweight rating on the real estate investment trust’s stock.

Several other research firms also recently commented on ESS. Truist Financial dropped their price objective on shares of Essex Property Trust from $259.00 to $255.00 and set a hold rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, April 9th. Royal Bank of Canada increased their price target on shares of Essex Property Trust from $237.00 to $239.00 and gave the stock an outperform rating in a report on Thursday, February 8th. The Goldman Sachs Group reissued a sell rating and issued a $227.00 price target on shares of Essex Property Trust in a report on Thursday, February 22nd. Morgan Stanley increased their price target on shares of Essex Property Trust from $227.00 to $230.00 and gave the stock an equal weight rating in a report on Monday, February 26th. Finally, Wedbush reissued a neutral rating and issued a $240.00 price target on shares of Essex Property Trust in a report on Monday, April 29th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have given a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Essex Property Trust has an average rating of Hold and a consensus price target of $249.76.

Essex Property Trust Price Performance

NYSE ESS opened at $254.50 on Monday. The company has a market cap of $16.34 billion, a PE ratio of 31.11, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.67 and a beta of 0.79. Essex Property Trust has a 52 week low of $203.85 and a 52 week high of $258.06. The company has a quick ratio of 3.19, a current ratio of 3.19 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.14. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $241.53 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $233.61.

Essex Property Trust Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, April 12th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 29th were given a dividend of $2.45 per share. This is a boost from Essex Property Trust’s previous quarterly dividend of $2.31. This represents a $9.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.85%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, March 27th. Essex Property Trust’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 119.80%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the business. State Board of Administration of Florida Retirement System grew its position in Essex Property Trust by 2.6% during the first quarter. State Board of Administration of Florida Retirement System now owns 81,456 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $19,941,000 after acquiring an additional 2,083 shares during the last quarter. BNP PARIBAS ASSET MANAGEMENT Holding S.A. grew its position in Essex Property Trust by 14.6% during the first quarter. BNP PARIBAS ASSET MANAGEMENT Holding S.A. now owns 10,303 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $2,522,000 after acquiring an additional 1,316 shares during the last quarter. Cozad Asset Management Inc. grew its position in Essex Property Trust by 25.7% during the first quarter. Cozad Asset Management Inc. now owns 7,846 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $1,921,000 after acquiring an additional 1,605 shares during the last quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. grew its position in Essex Property Trust by 34.0% during the first quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. now owns 553,015 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $135,348,000 after acquiring an additional 140,294 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Choate Investment Advisors bought a new position in Essex Property Trust during the first quarter valued at approximately $427,000. 96.51% of the stock is currently 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.