Janney Montgomery Scott LLC Raises Stock Position in Essex Property Trust, Inc. $ESS

Janney Montgomery Scott LLC increased its position in shares of Essex Property Trust, Inc. (NYSE:ESS) by 10.9% during the first quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 35,998 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after acquiring an additional 3,530 shares during the period. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC’s holdings in Essex Property Trust were worth $8,712,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Dorsey & Whitney Trust CO LLC boosted its holdings in Essex Property Trust by 5.2% in the 4th quarter. Dorsey & Whitney Trust CO LLC now owns 814 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $213,000 after purchasing an additional 40 shares during the period. Segment Wealth Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Essex Property Trust by 5.1% in the fourth quarter. Segment Wealth Management LLC now owns 913 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $239,000 after purchasing an additional 44 shares during the period. Norinchukin Bank The increased its holdings in shares of Essex Property Trust by 0.6% in the third quarter. Norinchukin Bank The now owns 6,957 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $1,862,000 after purchasing an additional 44 shares during the period. Signaturefd LLC raised its position in shares of Essex Property Trust by 11.3% in the fourth quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 445 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $116,000 after buying an additional 45 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Tokio Marine Asset Management Co. Ltd. boosted its stake in Essex Property Trust by 2.0% during the fourth quarter. Tokio Marine Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 2,537 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $664,000 after buying an additional 50 shares during the period. 96.51% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts recently commented on the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price on Essex Property Trust from $272.00 to $275.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research report on Monday, May 18th. Stifel Nicolaus raised their price target on Essex Property Trust from $278.00 to $281.50 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 29th. Mizuho lifted their price target on Essex Property Trust from $285.00 to $308.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, June 10th. Scotiabank reissued an “outperform” rating on shares of Essex Property Trust in a report on Thursday, June 18th. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada upped their price objective on shares of Essex Property Trust from $282.00 to $288.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 30th. Nine investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, ten have given a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $292.08.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Mary Kasaris sold 600 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, May 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $279.45, for a total value of $167,670.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 2,394 shares in the company, valued at approximately $669,003.30. This represents a 20.04% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Insiders own 3.47% of the company’s stock.

Essex Property Trust Stock Performance

Essex Property Trust stock opened at $297.87 on Friday. Essex Property Trust, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $238.46 and a fifty-two week high of $299.29. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.22, a quick ratio of 0.98 and a current ratio of 0.98. The stock has a market cap of $19.14 billion, a P/E ratio of 33.47, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 12.86 and a beta of 0.70. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $276.49 and its 200-day moving average price is $261.38.

Essex Property Trust (NYSE:ESS) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, April 28th. The real estate investment trust reported $1.65 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $3.96 by ($2.31). The company had revenue of $484.76 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $479.89 million. Essex Property Trust had a return on equity of 10.00% and a net margin of 30.03%.During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $3.97 earnings per share. Essex Property Trust has set its Q2 2026 guidance at 3.920-4.040 EPS. On average, equities research analysts expect that Essex Property Trust, Inc. will post 16.11 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Essex Property Trust Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, July 15th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, June 30th will be paid a dividend of $2.59 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, June 30th. This represents a $10.36 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.5%. Essex Property Trust’s payout ratio is 116.40%.

Essex Property Trust Company Profile

Essex Property Trust, Inc (NYSE: ESS) is a publicly traded real estate investment trust that acquires, develops, owns and operates multifamily residential properties. The company focuses on market-rate apartment communities and delivers a full suite of property services including leasing, resident services, asset management, and capital improvement programs designed to preserve and enhance long?term property values.

Essex concentrates its portfolio in West Coast markets, with a significant presence in California and the Pacific Northwest.