Equity Residential (NYSE:EQR) Receives Consensus Rating of “Hold” from Brokerages

Shares of Equity Residential (NYSE:EQR) have received a consensus rating of “Hold” from the fifteen brokerages that are covering the company, MarketBeat.com reports. Nine equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and six have given a buy recommendation to the company. The average 1-year target price among analysts that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $67.04.

A number of research firms have weighed in on EQR. The Goldman Sachs Group reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $70.00 price objective on shares of Equity Residential in a report on Thursday, February 22nd. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft started coverage on Equity Residential in a research note on Tuesday, January 30th. They set a “hold” rating and a $64.00 price objective for the company. Truist Financial reduced their target price on shares of Equity Residential from $71.00 to $67.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, April 9th. Morgan Stanley increased their target price on shares of Equity Residential from $58.00 to $64.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Monday, February 26th. Finally, Piper Sandler boosted their price target on shares of Equity Residential from $62.00 to $70.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, April 29th.

Insider Activity at Equity Residential

In other Equity Residential news, Director Mary Kay Haben sold 3,241 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, April 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $65.48, for a total transaction of $212,220.68. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 9,720 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $636,465.60. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. In related news, CFO Robert Garechana sold 876 shares of Equity Residential stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $57.80, for a total transaction of $50,632.80. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 20,933 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,209,927.40. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Director Mary Kay Haben sold 3,241 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, April 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $65.48, for a total value of $212,220.68. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 9,720 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $636,465.60. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 8,860 shares of company stock worth $566,034 over the last 90 days. Insiders own 1.00% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Equity Residential

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of EQR. Norges Bank bought a new stake in Equity Residential in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $2,143,388,000. FMR LLC raised its stake in Equity Residential by 68.5% during the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 4,416,565 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $259,297,000 after buying an additional 1,795,772 shares during the period. Davis Asset Management L.P. acquired a new stake in Equity Residential during the 4th quarter worth $61,160,000. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board lifted its holdings in Equity Residential by 13.8% during the third quarter. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board now owns 5,206,249 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $305,659,000 after acquiring an additional 629,813 shares in the last quarter. Finally, First Eagle Investment Management LLC grew its stake in Equity Residential by 5.9% in the fourth quarter. First Eagle Investment Management LLC now owns 9,325,268 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $570,333,000 after acquiring an additional 516,941 shares during the period. 92.68% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Equity Residential Stock Up 1.4 %

Shares of EQR stock opened at $67.04 on Friday. Equity Residential has a one year low of $52.57 and a one year high of $69.45. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.64, a current ratio of 0.23 and a quick ratio of 0.23. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $62.89 and a 200 day moving average price of $60.18. The stock has a market cap of $25.45 billion, a P/E ratio of 27.82, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.49 and a beta of 0.82.

Equity Residential (NYSE:EQR) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 23rd. The real estate investment trust reported $0.93 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.91 by $0.02. Equity Residential had a net margin of 31.70% and a return on equity of 8.18%. The company had revenue of $730.80 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $728.09 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $0.87 EPS. The business’s revenue was up 3.6% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts predict that Equity Residential will post 3.87 earnings per share for the current year.

Equity Residential Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, April 12th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 25th were paid a dividend of $0.675 per share. This represents a $2.70 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.03%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, March 22nd. This is a positive change from Equity Residential’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.66. Equity Residential’s dividend payout ratio is 112.03%.

Equity Residential Company Profile

Equity Residential is committed to creating communities where people thrive. The Company, a member of the S&P 500, is focused on the acquisition, development and management of residential properties located in and around dynamic cities that attract affluent long-term renters. Equity Residential owns or has investments in 305 properties consisting of 80,683 apartment units, with an established presence in Boston, New York, Washington, DC, Seattle, San Francisco and Southern California, and an expanding presence in Denver, Atlanta, Dallas/Ft.