Jefferies Financial Group Inc. Purchases New Shares in Essex Property Trust, Inc. $ESS

Jefferies Financial Group Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Essex Property Trust, Inc. (NYSE:ESS) during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm acquired 3,648 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock, valued at approximately $976,000.

Other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Hantz Financial Services Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Essex Property Trust by 57.5% in the third quarter. Hantz Financial Services Inc. now owns 115 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $31,000 after purchasing an additional 42 shares during the last quarter. Tobam boosted its holdings in Essex Property Trust by 167.3% during the second quarter. Tobam now owns 131 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $37,000 after purchasing an additional 82 shares during the last quarter. CYBER HORNET ETFs LLC purchased a new position in Essex Property Trust during the second quarter worth about $48,000. SJS Investment Consulting Inc. bought a new stake in Essex Property Trust in the 3rd quarter worth about $48,000. Finally, MUFG Securities EMEA plc bought a new stake in Essex Property Trust in the 2nd quarter worth about $54,000. 96.51% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

ESS has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Mizuho lifted their target price on shares of Essex Property Trust from $275.00 to $284.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, November 24th. Wall Street Zen lowered Essex Property Trust from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Saturday, February 7th. BMO Capital Markets downgraded Essex Property Trust from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating and decreased their price target for the company from $305.00 to $280.00 in a research report on Friday, January 9th. Scotiabank dropped their price target on Essex Property Trust from $284.00 to $278.00 and set a “sector outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, March 4th. Finally, Raymond James Financial reissued a “market perform” rating on shares of Essex Property Trust in a research report on Friday, February 27th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and fourteen have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $282.00.

Essex Property Trust Stock Performance

Shares of ESS stock opened at $251.17 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.19, a quick ratio of 1.03 and a current ratio of 1.03. The firm has a market cap of $16.20 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.13, a P/E/G ratio of 7.85 and a beta of 0.73. Essex Property Trust, Inc. has a 52 week low of $243.25 and a 52 week high of $310.10. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $254.33 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $258.76.

Essex Property Trust (NYSE:ESS) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, February 4th. The real estate investment trust reported $3.98 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.00 by ($0.02). Essex Property Trust had a net margin of 35.48% and a return on equity of 11.61%. The company had revenue of $479.63 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $474.66 million. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $3.92 earnings per share. Essex Property Trust has set its FY 2026 guidance at 15.690-16.190 EPS and its Q1 2026 guidance at 3.890-4.010 EPS. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Essex Property Trust, Inc. will post 15.96 earnings per share for the current year.

Essex Property Trust Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 15th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, March 31st will be issued a dividend of $2.59 per share. This represents a $10.36 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.1%. This is a positive change from Essex Property Trust’s previous quarterly dividend of $2.57. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, March 31st. Essex Property Trust’s dividend payout ratio is currently 98.75%.

Essex Property Trust 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.