Essex Property Trust (NYSE:ESS) Posts Quarterly Earnings Results, Misses Expectations By $2.04 EPS

Essex Property Trust (NYSE:ESS) issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday. The real estate investment trust reported $1.84 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $3.88 by ($2.04), Zacks reports. The firm had revenue of $450.70 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $445.88 million. Essex Property Trust had a return on equity of 9.72% and a net margin of 31.55%. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $3.78 earnings per share.

Essex Property Trust Stock Performance

ESS traded down $6.68 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $277.18. 260,138 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 378,557. The stock has a market capitalization of $17.80 billion, a P/E ratio of 32.37, a P/E/G ratio of 5.32 and a beta of 0.88. Essex Property Trust has a 52-week low of $204.64 and a 52-week high of $317.73. The company has a quick ratio of 1.62, a current ratio of 1.62 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.13. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $298.24 and its 200-day moving average price is $279.01.

Essex Property Trust Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, October 11th. Shareholders of record on Monday, September 30th were given a $2.45 dividend. This represents a $9.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.54%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, September 30th. Essex Property Trust’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 114.49%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Essex Property Trust news, Director Amal M. Johnson sold 2,453 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $300.00, for a total value of $735,900.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 2,585 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $775,500. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In other news, CEO Angela L. Kleiman sold 8,080 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, September 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $315.10, for a total transaction of $2,546,008.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 9,494 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,991,559.40. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, Director Amal M. Johnson sold 2,453 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, August 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $300.00, for a total value of $735,900.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 2,585 shares in the company, valued at approximately $775,500. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 20,402 shares of company stock valued at $6,399,663 over the last 90 days. Company insiders own 3.80% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

ESS has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Truist Financial upped their target price on shares of Essex Property Trust from $282.00 to $294.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 27th. Piper Sandler raised their target price on shares of Essex Property Trust from $315.00 to $355.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, August 26th. Evercore ISI boosted their price target on Essex Property Trust from $283.00 to $287.00 and gave the stock an “in-line” rating in a research report on Monday, September 16th. Stifel Nicolaus raised their price objective on Essex Property Trust from $267.00 to $268.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 31st. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price on Essex Property Trust from $265.00 to $297.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, September 16th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, fourteen have assigned a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $293.40.

About Essex Property Trust

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.