Equity Residential (NYSE:EQR) Cut to Neutral at Bank of America

Bank of America downgraded shares of Equity Residential (NYSE:EQR) from a buy rating to a neutral rating in a report released on Tuesday morning, Marketbeat.com reports. The brokerage currently has $82.00 price objective on the real estate investment trust’s stock, up from their prior price objective of $78.00.

A number of other research firms have also recently weighed in on EQR. Evercore ISI increased their price objective on Equity Residential from $75.00 to $76.00 and gave the stock an in-line rating in a research report on Monday, September 16th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price objective on shares of Equity Residential from $68.00 to $80.00 and gave the company a neutral rating in a research report on Monday, September 16th. Scotiabank upped their price objective on shares of Equity Residential from $77.00 to $81.00 and gave the stock a sector perform rating in a research report on Monday, September 16th. Truist Financial raised their target price on shares of Equity Residential from $73.00 to $77.00 and gave the stock a buy rating in a research note on Thursday, August 29th. Finally, Wedbush boosted their price target on shares of Equity Residential from $68.00 to $75.00 and gave the stock a neutral rating in a research note on Monday, August 5th. Thirteen analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of Hold and an average target price of $75.97.

Equity Residential Stock Down 1.2 %

EQR stock opened at $74.31 on Tuesday. The company has a market cap of $28.20 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 30.83, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.60 and a beta of 0.89. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $73.14 and a 200 day moving average price of $67.93. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.64, a current ratio of 0.21 and a quick ratio of 0.21. Equity Residential has a 12 month low of $52.57 and a 12 month high of $78.83.

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

Equity Residential Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, October 11th. Investors of record on Tuesday, September 24th will be given a $0.675 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, September 24th. This represents a $2.70 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.63%. Equity Residential’s dividend payout ratio is presently 112.03%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Equity Residential

Several hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in EQR. Sanctuary Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Equity Residential in the second quarter valued at about $796,000. Coronation Fund Managers Ltd. raised its position in shares of Equity Residential by 12.3% during the 2nd quarter. Coronation Fund Managers Ltd. now owns 146,775 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $10,177,000 after purchasing an additional 16,063 shares during the last quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers lifted its stake in Equity Residential by 3.0% in the 2nd quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers now owns 46,353 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $3,214,000 after buying an additional 1,344 shares in the last quarter. Truist Financial Corp grew its holdings in Equity Residential by 2.3% during the 2nd quarter. Truist Financial Corp now owns 12,768 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $885,000 after buying an additional 289 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Chase Investment Counsel Corp purchased a new position in Equity Residential during the second quarter worth $341,000. 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.