Brokerages Set Equity Residential (NYSE:EQR) PT at $67.04

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

A number of research firms have issued reports on EQR. BMO Capital Markets raised Equity Residential from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and lifted their price objective for the stock from $68.00 to $70.00 in a research note on Monday, April 22nd. Barclays decreased their price target on shares of Equity Residential from $69.00 to $67.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, February 20th. Wedbush reissued a “neutral” rating and issued a $68.00 price objective on shares of Equity Residential in a research note on Monday, April 29th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft started coverage on shares of Equity Residential in a research report on Tuesday, January 30th. They set a “hold” rating and a $64.00 target price on the stock. Finally, Raymond James upgraded Equity Residential from an “underperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research report on Monday, March 18th.

Insider Activity at Equity Residential

In other Equity Residential news, CAO Ian Kaufman sold 716 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $57.80, for a total value of $41,384.80. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 23,949 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,384,252.20. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. In other news, EVP Alexander Brackenridge sold 4,027 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, April 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $65.01, for a total value of $261,795.27. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 69,901 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,544,264.01. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CAO Ian Kaufman sold 716 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $57.80, for a total transaction of $41,384.80. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 23,949 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,384,252.20. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 8,860 shares of company stock worth $566,034 in the last 90 days. 1.00% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Equity Residential

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in EQR. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its position in shares of Equity Residential by 0.7% during the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 57,395,793 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $3,369,707,000 after purchasing an additional 372,181 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new position in Equity Residential during the 4th quarter worth $2,143,388,000. APG Asset Management US Inc. increased its position in Equity Residential by 0.6% during the 4th quarter. APG Asset Management US Inc. now owns 11,598,251 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $709,349,000 after buying an additional 71,716 shares in the last quarter. First Eagle Investment Management LLC raised 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 buying an additional 516,941 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Centersquare Investment Management LLC boosted its holdings in Equity Residential by 5.9% in the fourth quarter. Centersquare Investment Management LLC now owns 5,527,431 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $338,058,000 after acquiring an additional 309,796 shares in the last quarter. 92.68% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Equity Residential Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:EQR opened at $66.70 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $25.32 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.68, a P/E/G ratio of 3.49 and a beta of 0.82. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $62.76 and a 200 day moving average price of $60.14. Equity Residential has a fifty-two week low of $52.57 and a fifty-two week high of $69.45. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.64, a quick ratio of 0.23 and a current ratio of 0.23.

Equity Residential (NYSE:EQR) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 23rd. The real estate investment trust reported $0.93 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.91 by $0.02. The business had revenue of $730.80 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $728.09 million. Equity Residential had a net margin of 31.70% and a return on equity of 8.18%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 3.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $0.87 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Equity Residential will post 3.87 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Equity Residential Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, April 12th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 25th were paid a $0.675 dividend. This is a positive change from Equity Residential’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.66. The ex-dividend date was Friday, March 22nd. This represents a $2.70 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.05%. Equity Residential’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 112.03%.

About Equity Residential

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.