Essex Property Trust (NYSE:ESS) Raised to Strong-Buy at Jefferies Financial Group

Posted by Stanley Muller on Jul 23rd, 2026

Essex Property Trust (NYSE:ESS – Get Free Report) was upgraded by equities researchers at Jefferies Financial Group to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report issued on Wednesday,Zacks.com reports.

Other analysts have also issued research reports about the stock. Barclays boosted their target price on shares of Essex Property Trust from $277.00 to $296.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 14th. UBS Group set a $290.00 price target on shares of Essex Property Trust in a research report on Thursday, June 18th. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Essex Property Trust from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, July 4th. Weiss Ratings raised shares of Essex Property Trust from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a research report on Friday, June 12th. Finally, Mizuho boosted their price objective on shares of Essex Property Trust from $285.00 to $308.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, June 10th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, ten have given a Buy rating, nine have assigned a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $299.08.

View Our Latest Stock Analysis on ESS

Essex Property Trust Price Performance

Shares of ESS opened at $293.05 on Wednesday. The firm has a market cap of $18.83 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 32.93, a PEG ratio of 12.68 and a beta of 0.70. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $284.37 and a 200-day moving average of $264.49. The company has a current ratio of 0.98, a quick ratio of 0.98 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.22. Essex Property Trust has a 52 week low of $238.46 and a 52 week high of $303.35.

Essex Property Trust (NYSE:ESS – Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 28th. The real estate investment trust reported $1.65 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.96 by ($2.31). The firm had revenue of $484.76 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $479.89 million. Essex Property Trust had a net margin of 30.03% and a return on equity of 10.00%. 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. As a group, analysts forecast that Essex Property Trust will post 16.11 EPS for the current year.

Insider Transactions at Essex Property Trust

In related news, Director Mary Kasaris sold 600 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, May 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $279.45, for a total value of $167,670.00. Following the sale, the director directly owned 2,394 shares in the company, valued at $669,003.30. This trade represents a 20.04% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. 3.47% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in ESS. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. lifted its position in shares of Essex Property Trust by 2.6% during the 4th quarter. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 255,533 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $66,868,000 after acquiring an additional 6,422 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new position in shares of Essex Property Trust in the 4th quarter worth $230,690,000. BNP Paribas Financial Markets grew its holdings in shares of Essex Property Trust by 29.3% in the 4th quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 160,122 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $41,901,000 after acquiring an additional 36,293 shares during the last quarter. Centersquare Investment Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Essex Property Trust by 6.0% in the 4th quarter. Centersquare Investment Management LLC now owns 548,017 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $143,405,000 after acquiring an additional 31,261 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Principal Financial Group Inc. raised its position in shares of 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 worth $439,520,000 after purchasing an additional 301,349 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 96.51% of the company’s stock.

Essex Property Trust Company Profile

(Get Free Report)

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.