JPMorgan Chase & Co. Increases Equity Residential (NYSE:EQR) Price Target to $80.00

Equity Residential (NYSE:EQR) had its price objective increased by JPMorgan Chase & Co. from $68.00 to $80.00 in a research note published on Monday morning, Benzinga reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. currently has a neutral rating on the real estate investment trust’s stock.

A number of other research analysts have also issued reports on the company. Wedbush increased their target price on Equity Residential from $68.00 to $75.00 and gave the company a neutral rating in a research report on Monday, August 5th. Mizuho increased their price objective on shares of Equity Residential from $61.00 to $64.00 and gave the company a neutral rating in a report on Thursday, May 30th. Truist Financial lifted their target price on shares of Equity Residential from $73.00 to $77.00 and gave the company a buy rating in a research report on Thursday, August 29th. BNP Paribas started coverage on shares of Equity Residential in a research note on Wednesday, September 11th. They issued an outperform rating and a $83.00 price target on the stock. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company lowered Equity Residential from an overweight rating to an equal weight rating and boosted their price objective for the stock from $69.00 to $77.00 in a research note on Monday, August 26th. Twelve research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of Hold and an average price target of $75.62.

Equity Residential Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE EQR opened at $77.06 on Monday. The company has a market capitalization of $29.25 billion, a PE ratio of 31.98, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.27 and a beta of 0.89. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.64, a quick ratio of 0.21 and a current ratio of 0.21. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $72.53 and its 200 day moving average price is $67.52. Equity Residential has a 1 year low of $52.57 and a 1 year high of $78.83.

Equity Residential (NYSE:EQR) last posted its earnings results on Monday, July 29th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.47 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.96 by ($0.49). Equity Residential had a return on equity of 8.53% and a net margin of 32.83%. The firm had revenue of $734.20 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $735.26 million. The company’s revenue was up 2.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $0.94 earnings per share. On average, research analysts predict that Equity Residential will post 3.89 earnings per share for the current year.

Equity Residential Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, October 11th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, September 24th will be issued a dividend of $0.675 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, September 24th. This represents a $2.70 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.50%. Equity Residential’s dividend payout ratio is currently 112.03%.

Insider Activity

In related news, CFO Robert Garechana sold 6,357 shares of the 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 completion of the transaction, 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 document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 1.00% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Equity Residential

A number of hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of EQR. Principal Securities Inc. acquired a new position in Equity Residential in the fourth quarter valued at about $49,000. Envestnet Portfolio Solutions Inc. acquired a new stake in Equity Residential in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $208,000. Avantax Advisory Services Inc. raised its position in Equity Residential by 11.8% in the fourth quarter. Avantax Advisory Services Inc. now owns 7,856 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $480,000 after purchasing an additional 830 shares during the period. ING Groep NV raised its position in Equity Residential by 41.8% in the fourth quarter. ING Groep NV now owns 85,907 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $5,254,000 after purchasing an additional 25,305 shares during the period. Finally, UBS Group AG lifted its stake in Equity Residential by 0.9% during the fourth quarter. UBS Group AG now owns 887,030 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $54,251,000 after purchasing an additional 8,202 shares in the last quarter. 92.68% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.