Wedbush Research Analysts Lift Earnings Estimates for Essex Property Trust, Inc. (NYSE:ESS)

Essex Property Trust, Inc. (NYSE:ESS) – Investment analysts at Wedbush upped their Q2 2024 earnings per share estimates for Essex Property Trust in a research report issued on Monday, May 6th. Wedbush analyst R. Anderson now expects that the real estate investment trust will post earnings of $3.82 per share for the quarter, up from their previous estimate of $3.72. Wedbush has a “Neutral” rating and a $264.00 price objective on the stock. The consensus estimate for Essex Property Trust’s current full-year earnings is $15.21 per share. Wedbush also issued estimates for Essex Property Trust’s Q3 2024 earnings at $3.85 EPS, Q4 2024 earnings at $3.79 EPS and FY2025 earnings at $15.57 EPS.

Several other research firms also recently commented on ESS. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their target price on shares of Essex Property Trust from $239.50 to $243.50 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 1st. Piper Sandler raised their target price on Essex Property Trust from $291.00 to $315.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday. Morgan Stanley increased their price target on Essex Property Trust from $227.00 to $230.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday, February 26th. Raymond James raised Essex Property Trust from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $265.00 price objective on the stock in a research note on Monday, March 18th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft started coverage on Essex Property Trust in a report on Tuesday, January 30th. They issued a “hold” rating and a $240.00 target price on the stock. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have given a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $249.76.

Essex Property Trust Stock Performance

Shares of ESS stock opened at $254.50 on Tuesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $16.34 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.11, a PEG ratio of 3.67 and a beta of 0.79. The company has a current ratio of 3.19, a quick ratio of 3.19 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.14. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $241.53 and its 200-day moving average price is $233.61. Essex Property Trust has a 12 month low of $203.85 and a 12 month high of $258.06.

Institutional Trading of Essex Property Trust

Hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of Essex Property Trust in the fourth quarter valued at $675,183,000. Cohen & Steers Inc. boosted its stake in Essex Property Trust by 31.2% during the 4th quarter. Cohen & Steers Inc. now owns 3,072,004 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $761,760,000 after purchasing an additional 730,141 shares during the last quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. increased its holdings in Essex Property Trust by 86.5% during the 1st quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. now owns 997,792 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $244,269,000 after purchasing an additional 462,828 shares in the last quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. increased its holdings in Essex Property Trust by 119.3% during the 4th quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. now owns 412,721 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $102,602,000 after purchasing an additional 224,554 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Wellington Management Group LLP raised its stake in shares of Essex Property Trust by 5,069.7% in the third quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 208,651 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $44,253,000 after purchasing an additional 204,615 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 96.51% of the company’s stock.

Essex Property Trust Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, April 12th. Investors of record on Friday, March 29th were issued a $2.45 dividend. 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 dividend yield of 3.85%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, March 27th. Essex Property Trust’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 119.80%.

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.