Equity Residential (NYSE:EQR) Reaches New 52-Week High at $71.40

Equity Residential (NYSE:EQR) reached a new 52-week high during mid-day trading on Tuesday . The stock traded as high as $71.40 and last traded at $71.07, with a volume of 247169 shares. The stock had previously closed at $71.04.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms recently issued reports on EQR. BMO Capital Markets raised shares of Equity Residential from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and upped their price objective for the stock from $68.00 to $70.00 in a report on Monday, April 22nd. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on shares of Equity Residential from $66.00 to $69.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, May 31st. Evercore ISI downgraded 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 report on Monday, May 13th. Truist Financial upped their price objective on shares of Equity Residential from $67.00 to $73.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, June 24th. Finally, Piper Sandler raised shares of Equity Residential from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and increased their price target for the company from $70.00 to $80.00 in a report on Friday, June 28th. Eleven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Equity Residential presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $69.53.

Equity Residential Stock Performance

The stock has a market capitalization of $26.89 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 29.48, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.03 and a beta of 0.87. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $67.15 and its 200 day simple moving average is $63.69. The company has a quick ratio of 0.23, a current ratio of 0.23 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.64.

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

Equity Residential Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, July 12th. Stockholders of record on Monday, July 1st were issued a dividend of $0.675 per share. This represents a $2.70 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.81%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, July 1st. Equity Residential’s payout ratio is presently 112.03%.

Insider Transactions at Equity Residential

In related news, EVP Alexander Brackenridge sold 4,027 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, April 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $65.01, for a total value of $261,795.27. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 69,901 shares in the company, valued at $4,544,264.01. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. In related news, EVP Alexander Brackenridge sold 4,027 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, April 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $65.01, for a total value of $261,795.27. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 69,901 shares in the company, valued at $4,544,264.01. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Director Mary Kay Haben sold 3,241 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, April 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $65.48, for a total value of $212,220.68. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 9,720 shares in the company, valued at approximately $636,465.60. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 13,625 shares of company stock worth $913,158. Insiders own 1.00% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Equity Residential

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in Equity Residential in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $2,143,388,000. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD raised its position in Equity Residential by 1.9% in the 1st quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 20,267,675 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $1,279,095,000 after buying an additional 381,236 shares during the last quarter. APG Asset Management US Inc. raised its position in Equity Residential by 0.6% in the 4th quarter. APG Asset Management US Inc. now owns 11,598,251 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $709,349,000 after buying an additional 71,716 shares during the last quarter. First Eagle Investment Management LLC raised its position in Equity Residential by 5.9% in the 4th quarter. First Eagle Investment Management LLC now owns 9,325,268 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $570,333,000 after buying an additional 516,941 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Centersquare Investment Management LLC raised its position in Equity Residential by 5.9% in the 4th quarter. Centersquare Investment Management LLC now owns 5,527,431 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $338,058,000 after buying an additional 309,796 shares during 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.