Equity Residential (NYSE:EQR) Given New $75.00 Price Target at Wedbush

Equity Residential (NYSE:EQR) had its price objective increased by Wedbush from $68.00 to $75.00 in a research note issued to investors on Monday morning, Benzinga reports. The firm currently has a neutral rating on the real estate investment trust’s stock.

Other equities research analysts have also issued research reports about the stock. Royal Bank of Canada increased their price objective on shares of Equity Residential from $74.00 to $75.00 and gave the stock an outperform rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 31st. Piper Sandler increased their price objective on shares of Equity Residential from $80.00 to $85.00 and gave the stock an overweight rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 31st. UBS Group increased their price objective 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. Mizuho increased their price objective on shares of Equity Residential from $61.00 to $64.00 and gave the stock a neutral rating in a research note on Thursday, May 30th. Finally, Morgan Stanley increased their price objective on shares of Equity Residential from $68.00 to $70.00 and gave the stock an equal weight rating in a research note on Tuesday, May 14th. Eleven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of Hold and an average price target of $70.84.

Equity Residential Stock Up 3.3 %

Shares of Equity Residential stock traded up $2.25 during trading on Monday, reaching $71.42. The company had a trading volume of 2,543,804 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,988,048. The company has a market cap of $27.11 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 29.38, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.06 and a beta of 0.87. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $67.88 and its 200-day moving average is $64.31. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.64, a quick ratio of 0.23 and a current ratio of 0.21. Equity Residential has a fifty-two week low of $52.57 and a fifty-two week high of $72.32.

Equity Residential (NYSE:EQR) last issued its earnings results on Monday, July 29th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.47 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.96 by ($0.49). The company had revenue of $734.20 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $735.26 million. Equity Residential had a net margin of 32.83% and a return on equity of 8.53%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 2.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $0.94 EPS. On average, analysts anticipate that Equity Residential will post 3.88 EPS for the current year.

Equity Residential Announces Dividend

The business 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 3.78%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, July 1st. Equity Residential’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 112.03%.

Insider Activity

In related 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 completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 14,576 shares in the company, valued at $1,006,910.08. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Insiders own 1.00% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Equity Residential

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Fidelis Capital Partners LLC acquired a new position in Equity Residential in the 1st quarter worth approximately $27,000. Allworth Financial LP boosted its stake in Equity Residential by 120.8% in the 4th quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 488 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $30,000 after purchasing an additional 267 shares during the period. Voisard Asset Management Group Inc. acquired a new position in Equity Residential in the 4th quarter worth approximately $33,000. Massmutual Trust Co. FSB ADV boosted its stake in Equity Residential by 41.9% in the 2nd quarter. Massmutual Trust Co. FSB ADV now owns 525 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $36,000 after purchasing an additional 155 shares during the period. Finally, Richardson Financial Services Inc. acquired a new position in Equity Residential in the 1st quarter worth approximately $41,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.