Essex Property Trust, Inc. (NYSE:ESS - Get Free Report) Director Mary Kasaris sold 2,800 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $300.80, for a total transaction of $842,240.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 1,755 shares in the company, valued at approximately $527,904. The trade was a 61.47 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this link.
Essex Property Trust Stock Performance
NYSE ESS opened at $288.39 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 1.14, a quick ratio of 1.14 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.15. The firm has a market capitalization of $18.55 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.99, a P/E/G ratio of 6.84 and a beta of 0.90. The firm's 50 day simple moving average is $289.35 and its 200 day simple moving average is $294.60. Essex Property Trust, Inc. has a 1 year low of $230.90 and a 1 year high of $317.73.
Essex Property Trust (NYSE:ESS - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The real estate investment trust reported $3.92 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.40 by $2.52. Essex Property Trust had a net margin of 41.79% and a return on equity of 13.05%. As a group, research analysts expect that Essex Property Trust, Inc. will post 15.96 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.
Essex Property Trust Increases Dividend
The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 15th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 31st will be given a $2.57 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 31st. This represents a $10.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.56%. This is a positive change from Essex Property Trust's previous quarterly dividend of $2.45. Essex Property Trust's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 89.08%.
Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth
A number of equities research analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Barclays upped their target price on shares of Essex Property Trust from $302.00 to $304.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a report on Wednesday, February 19th. JMP Securities reissued a "market perform" rating on shares of Essex Property Trust in a report on Thursday, February 6th. Evercore ISI increased their price target on shares of Essex Property Trust from $297.00 to $302.00 and gave the company an "in-line" rating in a report on Monday, February 10th. Royal Bank of Canada increased their price target on shares of Essex Property Trust from $302.00 to $315.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Thursday, February 6th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets raised shares of Essex Property Trust from a "market perform" rating to an "outperform" rating and lowered their price target for the company from $323.00 to $310.00 in a report on Monday, January 13th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have given a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $307.16.
Read Our Latest Analysis on ESS
Institutional Trading of Essex Property Trust
Hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Kestra Investment Management LLC acquired a new stake in Essex Property Trust in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Assetmark Inc. boosted its position in Essex Property Trust by 2,400.0% in the third quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 100 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $30,000 after buying an additional 96 shares in the last quarter. Brooklyn Investment Group acquired a new stake in Essex Property Trust in the third quarter valued at approximately $39,000. UMB Bank n.a. boosted its position in Essex Property Trust by 37.5% in the fourth quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 154 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $44,000 after buying an additional 42 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Newbridge Financial Services Group Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Essex Property Trust during the fourth quarter worth $45,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 96.51% of the company's stock.
Essex Property Trust Company Profile
(
Get Free Report)
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.
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