Equity Residential (NYSE:EQR) Posts Earnings Results, Misses Expectations By $0.49 EPS

Equity Residential (NYSE:EQR) issued its quarterly earnings data on Monday. The real estate investment trust reported $0.47 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.96 by ($0.49), Zacks reports. Equity Residential had a return on equity of 8.51% and a net margin of 32.83%. The business had revenue of $734.20 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $735.26 million. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $0.94 EPS. Equity Residential’s revenue for the quarter was up 2.4% compared to the same quarter last year. Equity Residential updated its Q3 guidance to $0.96-1.00 EPS and its FY24 guidance to $3.86-3.92 EPS.

Equity Residential Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE EQR traded up $0.06 during trading on Wednesday, reaching $69.63. 4,213,385 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,957,616. The stock has a market cap of $26.43 billion, a P/E ratio of 28.94, a PEG ratio of 4.10 and a beta of 0.87. Equity Residential has a 12-month low of $52.57 and a 12-month high of $71.78. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $67.54 and its 200 day simple moving average is $64.06. The company has a current ratio of 0.23, a quick ratio of 0.23 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.64.

Equity Residential Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, July 12th. Stockholders of record on Monday, July 1st were issued a $0.675 dividend. This represents a $2.70 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.88%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, July 1st. Equity Residential’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 112.03%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts have recently weighed in on EQR shares. BMO Capital Markets raised Equity Residential from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and increased their price target for the company from $68.00 to $70.00 in a research note on Monday, April 22nd. Evercore ISI cut Equity Residential from an “outperform” rating to an “in-line” rating and set a $70.00 target price on the stock. in a research report on Monday, May 13th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their target price on Equity Residential from $66.00 to $69.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, May 31st. Mizuho lifted their price objective on shares of Equity Residential from $61.00 to $64.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 30th. Finally, UBS Group lifted their target price on shares of Equity Residential from $75.00 to $82.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 18th. Eleven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $70.41.

Insider Activity at Equity Residential

In other news, CFO Robert Garechana sold 6,357 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, June 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $69.08, for a total transaction 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 sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. 1.00% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

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.