Wall Street analysts expect Essex Property Trust, Inc. (NYSE:ESS – Get Rating) to post earnings per share of $3.49 for the current quarter, Zacks reports. Seven analysts made estimates for Essex Property Trust’s earnings, with the highest EPS estimate being $3.56 and the lowest estimate $3.44. Essex Property Trust posted earnings of $3.04 per share in the same quarter last year, suggesting a positive growth rate of 14.8% year-over-year. The company is due to release its next earnings report on Monday, January 1.

According to Zacks, analysts expect Essex Property Trust to report annual earnings of $13.99 per share for the current year, with EPS estimates ranging from $13.84 to $14.19. For the next fiscal year, analysts expect the company to post earnings of $15.18 per share, with EPS estimates ranging from $14.77 to $15.70. Zacks Investment Research’s EPS averages are an average based on a survey of research firms that provide coverage for Essex Property Trust.

Essex Property Trust (NYSE:ESS – Get Rating) last released its quarterly results on Tuesday, April 26. The real estate investment trust reported EPS of $1.12 for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $3.35 per ($2.23). Essex Property Trust had a return on equity of 5.25% and a net margin of 26.81%. In the same quarter a year earlier, the company posted earnings per share of $3.07.

A number of research analysts have commented on the headline. Mizuho cut its price target on Essex Property Trust shares from $382.00 to $342.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a Wednesday, February 16 research report. Scotiabank lowered its target price on shares of Essex Property Trust from $340.00 to $333.00 in a research note on Thursday. StockNews.com began covering Essex Property Trust shares in a research note on Thursday, March 31. They issued a “holding” rating for the company. Piper Sandler cut her price target on Essex Property Trust shares from $420.00 to $400.00 in a Wednesday May 4 research note. Finally, Truist Financial cut its price target on shares of Essex Property Trust from $378.00 to $370.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a Monday, March 21 research note. Two equity research analysts gave the stock a sell rating, seven gave the stock a hold rating and nine gave the stock a buy rating. According to data from MarketBeat, Essex Property Trust currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $358.67.

In other news, CEO Michael J. Schall sold 12,132 shares of Essex Property Trust in a trade dated Tuesday March 29. The stock was sold at an average price of $349.19, for a total value of $4,236,373.08. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available via this link. Additionally, COO Angela L. Kleiman sold 6,309 shares of the company in a trade that took place on Tuesday, March 29. The stock was sold at an average price of $354.21, for a total value of $2,234,710.89. The disclosure of this sale can be found here. Insiders of the company hold 3.70% of the shares of the company.

Several institutional investors have recently changed their positions in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its position in Essex Property Trust by 1.8% in Q1. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 10,614,782 shares of the real estate investment trust worth $3,667,195,000 after purchasing an additional 184,047 shares in the last quarter. BlackRock Inc. increased its holdings of Essex Property Trust shares by 3.8% in the fourth quarter. BlackRock Inc. now owns 6,686,520 shares of the real estate investment trust worth $2,355,194,000 after purchasing an additional 242,033 shares last quarter. Cohen & Steers Inc. increased its equity stake in Essex Property Trust by 8.9% in the third quarter. Cohen & Steers Inc. now owns 5,535,111 shares of the real estate investment trust worth $1,769,943,000 after purchasing an additional 450,710 shares last quarter. State Street Corp increased its stake in Essex Property Trust by 6.5% in the first quarter. State Street Corp now owns 5,219,447 shares of the real estate investment trust valued at $1,814,408,000 after buying an additional 316,868 shares last quarter. Finally, Principal Financial Group Inc. increased its stake in the shares of Essex Property Trust by 3.1% in the 1st quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 2,911,691 shares of the real estate investment trust worth $1,005,930,000 after purchasing an additional 86,179 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 96.09% of the company’s shares.

NYSE ESS traded down $0.47 during Friday trading, hitting $282.07. 1,091,214 shares of the company have been traded, compared to its average volume of 420,282. The company has a leverage ratio of 0.98, a current ratio of 1.41 and a quick ratio of 1.41. The company has a market capitalization of $18.43 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 46.70, a growth price-to-earnings ratio of 4.13 and a beta of 0.74. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $331.76 and its two-hundred-day simple moving average is $335.67. Essex Property Trust has a 12-month low of $278.85 and a 12-month high of $363.36.

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, July 15. Investors of record on Thursday, June 30 will receive a dividend of $2.20 per share. This represents a dividend of $8.80 on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.12%. The ex-date of this dividend is Wednesday, June 29. Essex Property Trust’s dividend payout ratio is currently 145.70%.

Essex Property Trust Company Profile (Get an evaluation)

Essex Property Trust, Inc, an S&P 500 company, is a fully integrated real estate investment trust (REIT) that acquires, develops, redevelops and manages multi-family residential properties in select West Coast markets. Essex currently holds interests in 246 apartment communities comprising approximately 60,000 apartment houses with 6 additional properties in various stages of active development.

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