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

Shares of Equity Residential (NYSE:EQR) have received an average recommendation of “Hold” from the seventeen ratings firms that are presently covering the stock, MarketBeat Ratings reports. Ten research analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and seven have issued a buy recommendation on the company. The average 12-month price target among brokerages that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $70.91.

Several analysts have recently weighed in on EQR shares. Truist Financial boosted their price target on Equity Residential from $67.00 to $73.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, June 24th. Piper Sandler boosted 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. Evercore ISI cut shares of Equity Residential from an “outperform” rating to an “in-line” rating and set a $70.00 price objective for the company. in a research report on Monday, May 13th. Mizuho increased their price target on Equity Residential from $61.00 to $64.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, May 30th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on Equity Residential from $66.00 to $69.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, May 31st.

Equity Residential Price Performance

Shares of EQR stock opened at $71.24 on Friday. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $68.85 and a 200 day simple moving average of $64.88. The company has a market cap of $27.04 billion, a P/E ratio of 29.56, a P/E/G ratio of 4.06 and a beta of 0.87. The company has a quick ratio of 0.23, a current ratio of 0.21 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.64. Equity Residential has a twelve month low of $52.57 and a twelve month high of $72.32.

Equity Residential (NYSE:EQR) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Monday, July 29th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.47 earnings per share 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 company’s revenue for the quarter was up 2.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $0.94 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Equity Residential will post 3.88 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Equity Residential Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, July 12th. Stockholders of record on Monday, July 1st were paid a dividend of $0.675 per share. This represents a $2.70 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.79%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, July 1st. Equity Residential’s payout ratio is 112.03%.

Insider Transactions at Equity Residential

In other Equity Residential news, CFO Robert Garechana sold 6,357 shares of the stock in a transaction dated 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 transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 14,576 shares in the company, valued at $1,006,910.08. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. 1.00% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of Equity Residential

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the business. Fidelis Capital Partners LLC bought a new position in Equity Residential during the first quarter valued at approximately $27,000. Allworth Financial LP boosted its stake in shares of Equity Residential by 120.8% in the 4th quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 488 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $30,000 after purchasing an additional 267 shares in the last quarter. Massmutual Trust Co. FSB ADV raised its position 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. Voisard Asset Management Group Inc. purchased a new stake in Equity Residential during the fourth quarter valued at about $33,000. Finally, HHM Wealth Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of Equity Residential by 146.6% during the second quarter. HHM Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 550 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $38,000 after buying an additional 327 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.68% of the company’s stock.

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.