Essex Property Trust (NYSE:ESS) Price Target Lowered to $259.00 at Truist Financial

Essex Property Trust (NYSE:ESS) had its target price reduced by Truist Financial from $276.00 to $259.00 in a research report issued to clients and investors on Thursday, Benzinga reports. The firm presently has a “hold” rating on the real estate investment trust’s stock. Truist Financial’s price objective points to a potential upside of 6.41% from the stock’s previous close.

Several other research analysts have also commented on ESS. The Goldman Sachs Group reaffirmed a “sell” rating and set a $227.00 price objective on shares of Essex Property Trust in a research note on Thursday, February 22nd. Stifel Nicolaus dropped their price objective on shares of Essex Property Trust from $225.00 to $223.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, February 7th. Barclays lifted their price objective on shares of Essex Property Trust from $224.00 to $225.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 20th. Raymond James raised shares of 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 note on Monday, March 18th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada lifted their price objective on shares of Essex Property Trust from $237.00 to $239.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 8th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have given a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Essex Property Trust has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $243.74.

Essex Property Trust Price Performance

Shares of ESS stock traded up $1.99 on Thursday, reaching $243.40. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 81,170 shares, compared to its average volume of 414,600. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $235.98 and its 200-day simple moving average is $228.25. Essex Property Trust has a 1 year low of $201.66 and a 1 year high of $252.85. The company has a current ratio of 3.26, a quick ratio of 3.26 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.11. The company has a market capitalization of $15.63 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 38.61, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.10 and a beta of 0.79.

Institutional Trading of Essex Property Trust

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. grew its stake in Essex Property Trust by 24.8% in the first quarter. Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. now owns 2,261 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $781,000 after purchasing an additional 450 shares during the last quarter. Allianz Asset Management GmbH grew its stake in Essex Property Trust by 1.2% in the first quarter. Allianz Asset Management GmbH now owns 88,915 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $30,718,000 after purchasing an additional 1,050 shares during the last quarter. Prudential PLC purchased a new position in Essex Property Trust in the first quarter valued at about $475,000. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its stake in Essex Property Trust by 1.8% in the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 10,614,782 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $3,667,195,000 after purchasing an additional 184,047 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Baird Financial Group Inc. boosted its position in Essex Property Trust by 3.6% in the first quarter. Baird Financial Group Inc. now owns 53,635 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $18,530,000 after buying an additional 1,847 shares during the last quarter. 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.