Essex Property Trust (NYSE:ESS) declared a quarterly dividend on Wednesday, February 20th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, March 28th will be given a dividend of $1.21 per share on Monday, April 15th. This represents a $4.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.18%.

Several analysts have also recently commented on the stock. Analysts at RBC Capital raised their price target on shares of Essex Property Trust from $152.00 to $156.00 in a research note to investors on Wednesday, February 13th. They now have a “sector perform” rating on the stock. On the ratings front, analysts at Imperial Capital raised their price target on shares of Essex Property Trust from $165.00 to $175.00 in a research note to investors on Monday, February 4th. They now have an “outperform” rating on the stock. Finally, analysts at TheStreet upgraded shares of Essex Property Trust from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note to investors on Monday, February 4th.

Twelve investment analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating, two have issued an overweight rating, and six have given a hold rating to the company’s stock. Essex Property Trust currently has a consensus rating of “overweight” and an average price target of $167.00.

Shares of Essex Property Trust (ESS) traded down 0.81% during mid-day trading on Wednesday, hitting $152.41. Essex Property Trust (ESS) has a one year low of $136.38 and a one year high of $161.53. The stock’s 50-day moving average is currently $152.2. The company has a market cap of $5.554 billion and a P/E ratio of 45.09.

Essex Property Trust last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 31st. The company reported $1.81 EPS for the quarter, beating the Thomson Reuters consensus estimate of $1.75 by $0.06. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $1.55 earnings per share. Essex Property Trust has set its FY13 guidance at $7.40-7.70 EPS. Analysts expect that Essex Property Trust (ESS) will post $7.67 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Essex Property Trust, Inc. (Essex) operates as a self-administered and self-managed real estate investment trust (REIT).

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