Essex Property Trust (NYSE:ESS) Cut to “Sell” at StockNews.com

StockNews.com downgraded shares of Essex Property Trust (NYSE:ESS) from a hold rating to a sell rating in a report released on Saturday morning.

ESS has been the subject of a number of other research reports. Barclays increased their price objective on Essex Property Trust from $224.00 to $225.00 and gave the company an underweight rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 20th. Jefferies Financial Group upgraded Essex Property Trust from a hold rating to a buy rating and increased their price objective for the company from $215.00 to $281.00 in a research report on Tuesday, January 2nd. Raymond James upgraded Essex Property Trust from a market perform rating to an outperform rating and set a $265.00 price objective for the company in a research report on Monday, March 18th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft began coverage on Essex Property Trust in a research report on Tuesday, January 30th. They set a hold rating and a $240.00 price objective for the company. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group reiterated a sell rating and set a $227.00 price objective on shares of Essex Property Trust in a research report on Thursday, February 22nd. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have issued a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of Hold and an average target price of $245.37.

Essex Property Trust Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:ESS opened at $232.63 on Friday. Essex Property Trust has a 12 month low of $203.85 and a 12 month high of $252.85. The stock has a market cap of $14.94 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 36.87, a PEG ratio of 3.53 and a beta of 0.80. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $237.12 and its 200 day moving average price is $230.47. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.11, a current ratio of 3.26 and a quick ratio of 3.26.

Essex Property Trust Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, April 12th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 29th were paid a $2.45 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, March 27th. This is an increase 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 4.21%. Essex Property Trust’s dividend payout ratio is 155.31%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Essex Property Trust

Several hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its position in Essex Property Trust by 1.8% during the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 10,614,782 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $3,667,195,000 after buying an additional 184,047 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp increased its position in Essex Property Trust by 15.0% during the first quarter. State Street Corp now owns 6,712,755 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $1,419,056,000 after buying an additional 874,625 shares during the last quarter. Cohen & Steers Inc. grew its position in shares of Essex Property Trust by 31.2% in the fourth 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. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Essex Property Trust in the fourth quarter valued at about $675,183,000. Finally, Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD grew its position in shares of Essex Property Trust by 10.7% in the fourth quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 1,685,715 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $417,959,000 after purchasing an additional 162,809 shares during the last quarter. 96.51% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.