Essex Property Trust, Inc. (NYSE:ESS) Short Interest Update

Essex Property Trust, Inc. (NYSE:ESS) was the recipient of a significant increase in short interest in March. As of March 31st, there was short interest totalling 1,480,000 shares, an increase of 10.4% from the March 15th total of 1,340,000 shares. Approximately 2.3% of the company’s stock are sold short. Based on an average trading volume of 405,600 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 3.6 days.

Essex Property Trust Price Performance

ESS opened at $232.63 on Wednesday. Essex Property Trust has a one year low of $203.85 and a one year high of $252.85. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.11, a current ratio of 3.26 and a quick ratio of 3.26. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $237.12 and its 200-day simple moving average is $230.47. The stock has a market capitalization of $14.94 billion, a P/E ratio of 36.87, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.48 and a beta of 0.80.

Essex Property Trust Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, April 12th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 29th were paid a dividend of $2.45 per share. This is a boost from Essex Property Trust’s previous quarterly dividend of $2.31. This represents a $9.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.21%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, March 27th. Essex Property Trust’s dividend payout ratio is 155.31%.

Institutional Trading of Essex Property Trust

Several hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Virtus ETF Advisers LLC boosted its stake in Essex Property Trust by 5.0% in the fourth quarter. Virtus ETF Advisers LLC now owns 927 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $230,000 after acquiring an additional 44 shares during the last quarter. Cornercap Investment Counsel Inc. boosted its stake in Essex Property Trust by 2.4% in the fourth quarter. Cornercap Investment Counsel Inc. now owns 1,913 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $474,000 after acquiring an additional 45 shares during the last quarter. Commerzbank Aktiengesellschaft FI boosted its stake in Essex Property Trust by 1.8% in the fourth quarter. Commerzbank Aktiengesellschaft FI now owns 2,552 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $633,000 after acquiring an additional 45 shares during the last quarter. Wetherby Asset Management Inc. raised its holdings in Essex Property Trust by 7.6% in the first quarter. Wetherby Asset Management Inc. now owns 635 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $219,000 after purchasing an additional 45 shares during the period. Finally, Lazard Asset Management LLC raised its holdings in Essex Property Trust by 25.3% in the first quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC now owns 243 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $83,000 after purchasing an additional 49 shares during the period. 96.51% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts recently weighed in on the company. Stifel Nicolaus cut their price objective on Essex Property Trust from $225.00 to $223.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, February 7th. StockNews.com cut shares of Essex Property Trust from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Saturday. Truist Financial cut their target price on shares of Essex Property Trust from $259.00 to $255.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, April 9th. Jefferies Financial Group upgraded shares of Essex Property Trust from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their price objective for the stock from $215.00 to $281.00 in a research note on Tuesday, January 2nd. Finally, Mizuho upgraded shares of Essex Property Trust from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and cut their target price for the company from $255.00 to $250.00 in a research note on Wednesday, February 28th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have given a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $245.37.

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.