Brokerages Set Equity Residential (NYSE:EQR) PT at $75.97

Equity Residential (NYSE:EQR) has been assigned an average rating of “Hold” from the nineteen ratings firms that are currently covering the stock, Marketbeat reports. Twelve research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the company. The average 12 month price objective among analysts that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $75.97.

A number of equities analysts have recently issued reports on EQR shares. Wells Fargo & Company downgraded Equity Residential from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and increased their price target for the stock from $69.00 to $77.00 in a research report on Monday, August 26th. Bank of America downgraded shares of Equity Residential from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and raised their target price for the company from $78.00 to $82.00 in a research report on Tuesday, September 24th. UBS Group upped their price target on shares of Equity Residential from $75.00 to $82.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 18th. Evercore ISI increased their price objective on shares of Equity Residential from $75.00 to $76.00 and gave the company an “in-line” rating in a research note on Monday, September 16th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada boosted their price objective on shares of Equity Residential from $74.00 to $75.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 31st.

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 stake in shares of Equity Residential in the first quarter valued at $27,000. Voisard Asset Management Group Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Equity Residential in the 4th quarter valued at about $33,000. Massmutual Trust Co. FSB ADV grew its position in shares of 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 buying an additional 155 shares in the last quarter. HHM Wealth Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of 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 buying an additional 327 shares during the period. Finally, Richardson Financial Services Inc. acquired a new stake in Equity Residential in the first quarter valued at approximately $41,000. 92.68% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Equity Residential Stock Performance

Equity Residential stock opened at $73.86 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.64, a current ratio of 0.21 and a quick ratio of 0.21. The firm has a market capitalization of $28.03 billion, a P/E ratio of 30.65, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.60 and a beta of 0.89. Equity Residential has a 1-year low of $52.57 and a 1-year high of $78.83. The company’s 50-day moving average is $73.51 and its 200 day moving average is $68.32.

Equity Residential (NYSE:EQR) last announced its quarterly earnings data 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). The business had revenue of $734.20 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $735.26 million. Equity Residential had a net margin of 32.83% and a return on equity of 8.53%. The business’s revenue was up 2.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company earned $0.94 EPS. Research analysts forecast that Equity Residential will post 3.89 EPS for the current year.

Equity Residential Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, October 11th. Investors of record on Tuesday, September 24th will be given a $0.675 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, September 24th. This represents a $2.70 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.66%. Equity Residential’s payout ratio is 112.03%.

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.