Equity Residential (NYSE:EQR) Lifted to Buy at Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft

Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upgraded shares of Equity Residential (NYSE:EQR) from a hold rating to a buy rating in a report published on Tuesday, Marketbeat Ratings reports. They currently have $83.00 price objective on the real estate investment trust’s stock, up from their previous price objective of $62.00.

Other equities analysts also recently issued research reports about the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price on Equity Residential from $66.00 to $68.00 and gave the company a neutral rating in a report on Monday, June 17th. Scotiabank increased their target price on shares of Equity Residential from $73.00 to $77.00 and gave the stock a sector perform rating in a research report on Monday, August 26th. Wells Fargo & Company cut shares of Equity Residential from an overweight rating to an equal weight rating and boosted their price target for the company from $69.00 to $77.00 in a report on Monday, August 26th. Mizuho increased their price objective on Equity Residential from $61.00 to $64.00 and gave the stock a neutral rating in a report on Thursday, May 30th. Finally, Morgan Stanley boosted their target price on Equity Residential from $68.00 to $70.00 and gave the company an equal weight rating in a research note on Tuesday, May 14th. Twelve analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of Hold and an average target price of $74.09.

Equity Residential Trading Up 2.3 %

NYSE EQR opened at $76.86 on Tuesday. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $71.19 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $66.76. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.64, a quick ratio of 0.21 and a current ratio of 0.21. Equity Residential has a twelve month low of $52.57 and a twelve month high of $76.94. The stock has a market cap of $29.14 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.89, a PEG ratio of 4.14 and a beta of 0.89.

Equity Residential (NYSE:EQR) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Monday, July 29th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.47 earnings per share 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 analysts’ expectations of $735.26 million. Equity Residential had a net margin of 32.83% and a return on equity of 8.53%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 2.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $0.94 EPS. Equities analysts anticipate that Equity Residential will post 3.89 EPS for the current year.

Equity Residential Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, July 12th. Investors of record on Monday, July 1st were paid a $0.675 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, July 1st. This represents a $2.70 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.51%. Equity Residential’s payout ratio is presently 112.03%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CFO Robert Garechana sold 6,357 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, June 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $69.08, for a total value of $439,141.56. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 14,576 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,006,910.08. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Insiders own 1.00% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Equity Residential

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. BNP Paribas Financial Markets raised its position in shares of Equity Residential by 36.6% during the first quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 569,829 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $35,962,000 after buying an additional 152,736 shares during the last quarter. Royal London Asset Management Ltd. increased its stake in Equity Residential by 13.7% during the fourth quarter. Royal London Asset Management Ltd. now owns 165,650 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $10,131,000 after acquiring an additional 20,010 shares during the period. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. raised its holdings in Equity Residential by 5.2% in the 4th quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 551,960 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $33,482,000 after acquiring an additional 27,171 shares in the last quarter. QRG Capital Management Inc. lifted its position in shares of Equity Residential by 200.9% in the 1st quarter. QRG Capital Management Inc. now owns 77,019 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $4,861,000 after acquiring an additional 51,423 shares during the period. Finally, Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD grew its holdings in shares of Equity Residential by 1.9% during the 1st quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 20,267,675 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $1,279,095,000 after purchasing an additional 381,236 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.