Equity Residential (NYSE:EQR) PT Raised to $82.00 at UBS Group

Equity Residential (NYSE:EQR) had its price objective boosted by UBS Group from $75.00 to $82.00 in a report released on Thursday, Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has a buy rating on the real estate investment trust’s stock.

EQR has been the subject of several other research reports. Wedbush reaffirmed a neutral rating and set a $68.00 price objective on shares of Equity Residential in a research report on Monday, April 29th. Morgan Stanley increased their target price on shares of Equity Residential from $68.00 to $70.00 and gave the stock an equal weight rating in a report on Tuesday, May 14th. Mizuho increased their target price on shares of Equity Residential from $61.00 to $64.00 and gave the stock a neutral rating in a report on Thursday, May 30th. BMO Capital Markets raised shares of Equity Residential from a market perform rating to an outperform rating and increased their target price for the stock from $68.00 to $70.00 in a report on Monday, April 22nd. Finally, Scotiabank increased their target price on shares of Equity Residential from $65.00 to $72.00 and gave the stock a sector perform rating in a report on Tuesday, May 14th. Eleven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Equity Residential currently has a consensus rating of Hold and an average price target of $69.53.

Equity Residential Trading Up 0.1 %

EQR opened at $70.14 on Thursday. Equity Residential has a twelve month low of $52.57 and a twelve month high of $71.17. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $67.06 and a 200 day simple moving average of $63.62. The company has a quick ratio of 0.23, a current ratio of 0.23 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.64. The stock has a market capitalization of $26.62 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 29.10, a P/E/G ratio of 4.03 and a beta of 0.87.

Equity Residential (NYSE:EQR) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 23rd. The real estate investment trust reported $0.93 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.91 by $0.02. Equity Residential had a net margin of 31.70% and a return on equity of 8.18%. The business had revenue of $730.80 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $728.09 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $0.87 earnings per share. Equity Residential’s revenue was up 3.6% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts predict that Equity Residential will post 3.87 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Equity Residential Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, July 12th. Shareholders of record on Monday, July 1st were given a dividend of $0.675 per share. This represents a $2.70 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.85%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, July 1st. Equity Residential’s dividend payout ratio is presently 112.03%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Equity Residential

In other Equity Residential news, CFO Robert Garechana sold 6,357 shares of the 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 owns 14,576 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,006,910.08. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. In other news, EVP Alexander Brackenridge sold 4,027 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, April 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $65.01, for a total transaction of $261,795.27. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 69,901 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,544,264.01. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, CFO Robert Garechana sold 6,357 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, June 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $69.08, for a total transaction of $439,141.56. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 14,576 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,006,910.08. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 13,625 shares of company stock valued at $913,158. 1.00% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of Equity Residential

Several large investors have recently modified their holdings of EQR. American Century Companies Inc. grew its position in shares of Equity Residential by 4.7% during the 3rd quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 331,830 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $19,482,000 after buying an additional 14,770 shares during the period. Wellington Management Group LLP lifted its holdings in shares of Equity Residential by 61.9% in the 3rd quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 64,809 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $3,805,000 after purchasing an additional 24,787 shares in the last quarter. Bruce G. Allen Investments LLC bought a new position in shares of Equity Residential in the 4th quarter worth $28,000. Raymond James Trust N.A. lifted its holdings in shares of Equity Residential by 8.6% in the 4th quarter. Raymond James Trust N.A. now owns 5,469 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $334,000 after purchasing an additional 433 shares in the last quarter. Finally, SG Americas Securities LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Equity Residential by 227.0% in the 4th quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 49,762 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $3,043,000 after purchasing an additional 34,546 shares in the last quarter. 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.