Equity Residential (NYSE:EQR) Given Average Recommendation of “Hold” by Brokerages

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

Several research firms have recently issued reports on EQR. Truist Financial boosted their target price on Equity Residential from $67.00 to $73.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, June 24th. 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. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on shares of Equity Residential from $66.00 to $68.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, June 17th. Piper Sandler raised their price objective on Equity Residential from $80.00 to $85.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 31st. Finally, Scotiabank increased their price target on Equity Residential from $72.00 to $73.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a report on Wednesday, August 7th.

Equity Residential Stock Up 0.2 %

Shares of NYSE:EQR opened at $71.41 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.64, a current ratio of 0.21 and a quick ratio of 0.23. The stock has a market cap of $27.10 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 29.63, a P/E/G ratio of 4.06 and a beta of 0.87. The company has a 50 day moving average of $68.98 and a 200-day moving average of $65.00. Equity Residential has a one year low of $52.57 and a one year high of $72.32.

Equity Residential (NYSE:EQR) last issued its earnings results on Monday, July 29th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.47 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate 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 for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $735.26 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $0.94 EPS. The business’s revenue was up 2.4% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Equity Residential will post 3.88 earnings per share for the current year.

Equity Residential Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, July 12th. Investors of record on Monday, July 1st were issued a dividend of $0.675 per share. This represents a $2.70 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.78%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, July 1st. Equity Residential’s payout ratio is 112.03%.

Insider Activity at Equity Residential

In other 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 directly owns 14,576 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,006,910.08. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. 1.00% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Equity Residential

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Fidelis Capital Partners LLC acquired a new position in Equity Residential during the first quarter worth $27,000. Allworth Financial LP raised its holdings 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 during the period. Voisard Asset Management Group Inc. acquired a new stake in Equity Residential in the 4th quarter valued at about $33,000. Massmutual Trust Co. FSB ADV grew its holdings in Equity Residential by 41.9% during the second 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. Finally, HHM Wealth Advisors LLC grew its holdings in 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 worth $38,000 after purchasing an additional 327 shares during the period. 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.