Janney Montgomery Scott LLC Buys 3,530 Shares of Essex Property Trust, Inc. $ESS

Key Points

• Janney Montgomery Scott LLC increased its Essex Property Trust stake by 10.9% in the first quarter, buying 3,530 additional shares for a total of 35,998 shares worth about $8.7 million.
• Institutional ownership remains very high, with hedge funds and other institutional investors holding 96.51% of the company’s stock. Several large investors also recently boosted or initiated positions.
• Essex Property Trust reported a quarterly EPS miss versus expectations, but it also announced a $2.59 per share quarterly dividend and maintained Q2 2026 guidance of 3.920–4.040 EPS.

Janney Montgomery Scott LLC lifted its stake in shares of Essex Property Trust, Inc. (NYSE:ESS - Free Report) by 10.9% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 35,998 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock after purchasing an additional 3,530 shares during the period. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC owned 0.06% of Essex Property Trust worth $8,712,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of Essex Property Trust in the 4th quarter worth approximately $230,690,000. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC grew its holdings in Essex Property Trust by 973.0% during the third quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC now owns 743,954 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $199,127,000 after purchasing an additional 674,617 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc. grew its holdings in Essex Property Trust by 21.9% during the fourth quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 1,679,607 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $439,520,000 after purchasing an additional 301,349 shares during the period. Morgan Stanley increased its position in Essex Property Trust by 31.3% in the fourth quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 958,090 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $250,714,000 after buying an additional 228,165 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Teacher Retirement System of Texas increased its position in Essex Property Trust by 1,768.0% in the fourth quarter. Teacher Retirement System of Texas now owns 157,438 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $41,198,000 after buying an additional 149,010 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 96.51% of the company's stock.

Insider Transactions at Essex Property Trust

In other Essex Property Trust news, Director Mary Kasaris sold 600 shares of the firm'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 owned 2,394 shares in the company, valued at $669,003.30. This trade represents a 20.04% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Company insiders own 3.47% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts have recently commented on ESS shares. Scotiabank reaffirmed an "outperform" rating on shares of Essex Property Trust in a research report on Thursday, June 18th. Morgan Stanley lifted their price objective on Essex Property Trust from $293.00 to $302.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a report on Thursday, June 25th. Weiss Ratings upgraded Essex Property Trust from a "hold (c+)" rating to a "buy (b-)" rating in a research note on Friday, June 12th. Cantor Fitzgerald upped their price objective on shares of Essex Property Trust from $290.00 to $291.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Monday, May 4th. Finally, Barclays increased their target price on shares of Essex Property Trust from $272.00 to $277.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Monday, May 11th. Nine research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, ten have assigned a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $292.08.

Essex Property Trust Trading Down 0.2%

Shares of ESS stock opened at $297.87 on Friday. The company's fifty day simple moving average is $276.49 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $261.38. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.22, a current ratio of 0.98 and a quick ratio of 0.98. Essex Property Trust, Inc. has a 1 year low of $238.46 and a 1 year high of $299.29. The stock has a market capitalization of $19.14 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 33.47, a PEG ratio of 12.86 and a beta of 0.70.

Essex Property Trust (NYSE:ESS - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 28th. The real estate investment trust reported $1.65 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $3.96 by ($2.31). Essex Property Trust had a return on equity of 10.00% and a net margin of 30.03%.The company had revenue of $484.76 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $479.89 million. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $3.97 earnings per share. Essex Property Trust has set its Q2 2026 guidance at 3.920-4.040 EPS. As a group, analysts anticipate that Essex Property Trust, Inc. will post 16.11 earnings per share for the current year.

Essex Property Trust Dividend Announcement

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

About Essex Property Trust

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.

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