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

Shares of Equity Residential (NYSE:EQR) have earned a consensus rating of “Hold” from the twenty-one research firms that are currently covering the company, Marketbeat reports. Twelve equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating on the company. The average twelve-month target price among brokerages that have covered the stock in the last year is $70.1125.

Several research analysts recently weighed in on the company. Piper Sandler reissued an “overweight” rating on shares of Equity Residential in a research report on Friday. Scotiabank upped their price target on Equity Residential from $66.00 to $67.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 4th. Cantor Fitzgerald upped their price target on Equity Residential from $64.00 to $66.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, May 4th. The Goldman Sachs Group dropped their price target on Equity Residential from $71.00 to $69.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, April 16th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target on Equity Residential from $71.00 to $72.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, May 5th.

Trending Headlines about Equity Residential

Here are the key news stories impacting Equity Residential this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Equity Residential’s merger with AvalonBay could improve scale, operating efficiency, and bargaining power across a portfolio of more than 180,000 rental apartments, supporting the investment case for the combined company. What the AvalonBay, Equity Residential megamerger means for the apartment industry and rents
• Positive Sentiment: Zacks Research raised several forward earnings estimates for Equity Residential, including Q1 2027, Q3 2027, Q4 2027, Q1 2028 and FY2028, signaling improved longer-term earnings expectations.
• Neutral Sentiment: Some 2026 and Q2 2027 EPS estimates were trimmed slightly, suggesting near-term earnings expectations are not uniformly improving, even as longer-dated forecasts rise.
• Negative Sentiment: The merger has also drawn shareholder-rights investigations, which could add legal noise and uncertainty around whether EQR investors are receiving a fair price in the deal.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its stake in Equity Residential by 2.3% in the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 57,597,658 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $3,728,296,000 after purchasing an additional 1,281,354 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new position in Equity Residential in the fourth quarter valued at about $2,201,674,000. State Street Corp grew its stake in Equity Residential by 2.8% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 24,922,935 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $1,630,103,000 after purchasing an additional 688,854 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its stake in Equity Residential by 1.1% in the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 10,258,275 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $644,412,000 after purchasing an additional 114,604 shares in the last quarter. Finally, First Eagle Investment Management LLC grew its stake in Equity Residential by 0.5% in the fourth quarter. First Eagle Investment Management LLC now owns 9,242,013 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $582,617,000 after purchasing an additional 44,127 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.68% of the company’s stock.

Equity Residential Stock Up 0.8%

NYSE:EQR opened at $66.30 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $24.84 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.52, a PEG ratio of 5.22 and a beta of 0.76. Equity Residential has a 1-year low of $57.57 and a 1-year high of $70.31. The company has a current ratio of 0.18, a quick ratio of 0.18 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.77. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $62.21 and its 200 day moving average price is $61.90.

Equity Residential (NYSE:EQR) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 28th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.24 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.33 by ($0.09). The business had revenue of $779.85 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $781.79 million. Equity Residential had a net margin of 30.63% and a return on equity of 8.57%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 2.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $0.95 earnings per share. Equity Residential has set its FY 2026 guidance at 4.020-4.140 EPS and its Q2 2026 guidance at 0.980-1.020 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Equity Residential will post 4.09 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Equity Residential Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, April 10th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 30th were paid a $0.7025 dividend. This represents a $2.81 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.2%. This is an increase from Equity Residential’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.69. The ex-dividend date was Monday, March 30th. Equity Residential’s dividend payout ratio is presently 112.40%.

About Equity Residential

Equity Residential (NYSE: EQR) is a publicly traded real estate investment trust that acquires, develops, owns and operates rental apartment properties. Headquartered in Chicago, the company focuses on delivering professionally managed, market-rate apartment homes and related services to renters. Its operations cover a range of property types, including high-rise and mid-rise assets, with amenities and on-site management designed to support resident retention and occupancy.

The company’s core activities include property acquisitions, development and redevelopment, leasing, and day-to-day property management.