Equity Residential (NYSE:EQR) Given New $77.00 Price Target at Scotiabank

Equity Residential (NYSE:EQR) had its price target increased by Scotiabank from $73.00 to $77.00 in a report published on Monday morning, Benzinga reports. Scotiabank currently has a sector perform rating on the real estate investment trust’s stock.

Other equities analysts have also recently issued reports about the stock. Evercore ISI cut shares of Equity Residential from an outperform rating to an in-line rating and set a $70.00 target price for the company. in a research note on Monday, May 13th. Piper Sandler upped their target price on shares of Equity Residential from $80.00 to $85.00 and gave the company an overweight rating in a report on Wednesday, July 31st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price on shares of Equity Residential from $66.00 to $68.00 and gave the company a neutral rating in a research note on Monday, June 17th. Morgan Stanley boosted their price target on Equity Residential from $68.00 to $70.00 and gave the stock an equal weight rating in a research report on Tuesday, May 14th. Finally, Mizuho raised their price objective on Equity Residential from $61.00 to $64.00 and gave the company a neutral rating in a research report on Thursday, May 30th. Twelve research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of Hold and a consensus target price of $71.66.

Equity Residential Stock Performance

Shares of EQR stock opened at $72.93 on Monday. The firm has a market cap of $27.68 billion, a PE ratio of 30.26, a P/E/G ratio of 4.06 and a beta of 0.87. Equity Residential has a 12 month low of $52.57 and a 12 month high of $73.83. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $69.73 and its 200-day simple moving average is $65.59. The company has a quick ratio of 0.23, a current ratio of 0.21 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.64.

Equity Residential (NYSE:EQR) last posted its quarterly earnings data 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). The business had revenue of $734.20 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $735.26 million. Equity Residential had a return on equity of 8.53% and a net margin of 32.83%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 2.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $0.94 earnings per share. Equities research analysts expect that Equity Residential will post 3.88 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Equity Residential Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, July 12th. Investors of record on Monday, July 1st were given a dividend of $0.675 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, July 1st. This represents a $2.70 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.70%. Equity Residential’s dividend payout ratio is 112.03%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Equity Residential

In other news, CFO Robert Garechana sold 6,357 shares of the company’s 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 sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Insiders own 1.00% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Equity Residential

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of EQR. International Assets Investment Management LLC bought a new position in Equity Residential in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $1,577,000. PGGM Investments bought a new position in shares of Equity Residential in the 4th quarter valued at $169,000. Van ECK Associates Corp boosted its holdings in shares of Equity Residential by 14.5% during the 4th quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 146,587 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $8,965,000 after acquiring an additional 18,556 shares in the last quarter. New York Life Investment Management LLC grew its position in Equity Residential by 78.7% during the 4th quarter. New York Life Investment Management LLC now owns 109,228 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $6,680,000 after acquiring an additional 48,112 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Summit Global Investments increased its holdings in Equity Residential by 63.0% in the 4th quarter. Summit Global Investments now owns 6,483 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $397,000 after purchasing an additional 2,506 shares in the last quarter. 92.68% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.