Recent Investment Analysts’ Ratings Updates for Essex Property Trust (ESS)

A number of firms have modified their ratings and price targets on shares of Essex Property Trust (NYSE: ESS) recently:

• 6/26/2026 – Essex Property Trust was upgraded by Raymond James Financial, Inc. from “market perform” to “outperform”. They now have a $320.00 price target on the stock.
• 6/26/2026 – Essex Property Trust was upgraded by Jefferies Financial Group Inc. to “hold”.
• 6/26/2026 – Essex Property Trust is now covered by Sanford C. Bernstein. They set an “outperform” rating and a $320.00 price target on the stock.
• 6/25/2026 – Essex Property Trust had its price target raised by Morgan Stanley from $293.00 to $302.00. They now have an “equal weight” rating on the stock.
• 6/21/2026 – Essex Property Trust was downgraded by Wall Street Zen from “hold” to “sell”.
• 6/18/2026 – Essex Property Trust was given a new $290.00 price target by UBS Group AG.
• 6/18/2026 – Essex Property Trust had its “outperform” rating reaffirmed by Scotiabank.
• 6/18/2026 – Essex Property Trust had its price target raised by Scotiabank from $282.00 to $290.00. They now have a “sector outperform” rating on the stock.
• 6/13/2026 – Essex Property Trust was upgraded by Wall Street Zen from “sell” to “hold”.
• 6/12/2026 – Essex Property Trust was upgraded by Weiss Ratings from “hold (c+)” to “buy (b-)”.
• 6/10/2026 – Essex Property Trust had its price target raised by Mizuho from $285.00 to $308.00. They now have an “outperform” rating on the stock.
• 6/8/2026 – Essex Property Trust had its “outperform” rating reaffirmed by Evercore Inc. They now have a $296.00 price target on the stock.
• 6/1/2026 – Essex Property Trust was upgraded by Evercore Inc from “cautious” to “outperform”. They now have a $295.00 price target on the stock.
• 6/1/2026 – Essex Property Trust had its price target raised by Wells Fargo & Company from $262.00 to $280.00. They now have an “equal weight” rating on the stock.
• 5/27/2026 – Essex Property Trust had its price target raised by Truist Financial Corporation from $273.00 to $286.00. They now have a “hold” rating on the stock.
• 5/18/2026 – Essex Property Trust had its price target raised by JPMorgan Chase & Co. from $272.00 to $275.00. They now have an “underweight” rating on the stock.
• 5/15/2026 – Essex Property Trust was given a new $293.00 price target by Morgan Stanley.
• 5/14/2026 – Essex Property Trust had its price target raised by Scotiabank from $278.00 to $282.00. They now have an “outperform” rating on the stock.
• 5/14/2026 – Essex Property Trust had its price target raised by UBS Group AG from $274.00 to $278.00. They now have a “neutral” rating on the stock.
• 5/14/2026 – Essex Property Trust had its price target raised by Scotiabank from $278.00 to $282.00. They now have a “sector outperform” rating on the stock.
• 5/11/2026 – Essex Property Trust had its price target raised by Barclays PLC from $272.00 to $277.00. They now have an “equal weight” rating on the stock.
• 5/4/2026 – Essex Property Trust was upgraded by Weiss Ratings from “hold (c)” to “hold (c+)”.
• 5/4/2026 – Essex Property Trust had its price target raised by Cantor Fitzgerald from $290.00 to $291.00. They now have an “overweight” rating on the stock.
• 5/4/2026 – Essex Property Trust was upgraded by Piper Sandler from “neutral” to “overweight”. They now have a $310.00 price target on the stock, up from $275.00.
• 4/30/2026 – Essex Property Trust had its price target raised by Royal Bank Of Canada from $282.00 to $288.00. They now have an “outperform” rating on the stock.

Essex Property Trust Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, July 15th. Investors of record on Tuesday, June 30th will be given 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 presently 116.40%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Essex Property Trust news, Director Mary Kasaris sold 600 shares of Essex Property Trust stock in a transaction on Wednesday, May 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $279.45, for a total value of $167,670.00. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 2,394 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $669,003.30. The trade was a 20.04% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 3.47% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

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.