Equity Residential (NYSE:EQR) Given Consensus Recommendation of “Hold” by Brokerages

Equity Residential (NYSE:EQR) has been assigned a consensus recommendation of “Hold” from the seventeen research firms that are covering the company, Marketbeat Ratings reports. Ten analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and seven have given a buy recommendation to the company. The average twelve-month price target among analysts that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $69.53.

Several brokerages have issued reports on EQR. Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price on Equity Residential from $66.00 to $69.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, May 31st. Truist Financial raised their target price on Equity Residential from $67.00 to $73.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, June 24th. Piper Sandler raised Equity Residential from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and raised their target price for the stock from $70.00 to $80.00 in a research report on Friday, June 28th. BMO Capital Markets raised Equity Residential from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and lifted their price objective for the company from $68.00 to $70.00 in a research report on Monday, April 22nd. Finally, Evercore ISI cut Equity Residential from an “outperform” rating to an “in-line” rating and set a $70.00 price objective on the stock. in a research report on Monday, May 13th.

Equity Residential Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:EQR opened at $70.14 on Wednesday. Equity Residential has a 1-year low of $52.57 and a 1-year high of $71.17. 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 business has a fifty day moving average price of $67.06 and a 200-day moving average price of $63.62. The company has a market capitalization of $26.62 billion, a PE ratio of 29.10, a PEG ratio of 4.03 and a beta of 0.87.

Equity Residential (NYSE:EQR) last released its quarterly earnings data 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. Equity Residential had a return on equity of 8.18% and a net margin of 31.70%. The company had revenue of $730.80 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $728.09 million. During the same period last year, the company earned $0.87 EPS. Equity Residential’s revenue for the quarter was up 3.6% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts expect that Equity Residential will post 3.87 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Equity Residential Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, July 12th. Investors of record on Monday, July 1st were issued a $0.675 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, July 1st. This represents a $2.70 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.85%. Equity Residential’s dividend payout ratio is presently 112.03%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Equity Residential news, CFO Robert Garechana sold 6,357 shares of Equity Residential stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, June 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $69.08, for a total value of $439,141.56. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 14,576 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,006,910.08. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In other Equity Residential news, CFO Robert Garechana sold 6,357 shares of Equity Residential stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, June 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $69.08, for a total value of $439,141.56. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 14,576 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,006,910.08. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, Director Mary Kay Haben sold 3,241 shares of Equity Residential stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, April 26th. The stock was 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 directly owns 9,720 shares in the company, valued at approximately $636,465.60. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 13,625 shares of company stock valued at $913,158. Corporate insiders own 1.00% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Equity Residential

A number of large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. American Century Companies Inc. increased its position in shares of Equity Residential by 4.7% during the 3rd quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 331,830 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $19,482,000 after purchasing an additional 14,770 shares during the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP increased its position in shares of Equity Residential by 61.9% during the 3rd quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 64,809 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $3,805,000 after purchasing an additional 24,787 shares during the last quarter. Bruce G. Allen Investments LLC bought a new position in shares of Equity Residential during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $28,000. Raymond James Trust N.A. increased its position in shares of Equity Residential by 8.6% during the 4th quarter. Raymond James Trust N.A. now owns 5,469 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $334,000 after purchasing an additional 433 shares during the last quarter. Finally, SG Americas Securities LLC increased its position in shares of Equity Residential by 227.0% during the 4th quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 49,762 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $3,043,000 after purchasing an additional 34,546 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 92.68% of the company’s stock.

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.