Equity Residential (NYSE:EQR) Receives $77.25 Consensus Target Price from Brokerages

Shares of Equity Residential (NYSE:EQR) have been assigned a consensus recommendation of “Hold” from the nineteen research firms that are currently covering the stock, MarketBeat.com reports. Eleven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and eight have given a buy recommendation to the company. The average 12 month target price among analysts that have covered the stock in the last year is $77.25.

EQR has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Wells Fargo & Company downgraded shares of Equity Residential from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and increased their price objective for the company from $69.00 to $77.00 in a report on Monday, August 26th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their target price on shares of Equity Residential from $68.00 to $80.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, September 16th. Scotiabank reduced their target price on shares of Equity Residential from $81.00 to $78.00 and set a “sector perform” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, November 14th. Royal Bank of Canada reduced their target price on shares of Equity Residential from $83.00 to $79.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, November 1st. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group assumed coverage on shares of Equity Residential in a research report on Wednesday, September 4th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $81.00 target price for the company.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Equity Residential

A number of institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Franklin Resources Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Equity Residential by 4.6% in the third quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 182,397 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $13,430,000 after purchasing an additional 8,088 shares during the period. Synovus Financial Corp boosted its stake in shares of Equity Residential by 104.6% in the third quarter. Synovus Financial Corp now owns 17,195 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $1,280,000 after purchasing an additional 8,789 shares during the period. Tidal Investments LLC boosted its stake in shares of Equity Residential by 12.3% in the third quarter. Tidal Investments LLC now owns 129,258 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $9,625,000 after purchasing an additional 14,109 shares during the period. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB purchased a new position in shares of Equity Residential in the third quarter valued at approximately $29,000. Finally, Sanctuary Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of Equity Residential by 69.8% in the third quarter. Sanctuary Advisors LLC now owns 20,752 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $1,573,000 after purchasing an additional 8,534 shares during the period. 92.68% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Equity Residential Stock Performance

EQR opened at $73.45 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.13, a current ratio of 0.13 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.76. The company has a market cap of $27.87 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 30.10, a PEG ratio of 5.90 and a beta of 0.92. Equity Residential has a 52-week low of $57.33 and a 52-week high of $78.83. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $73.94 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $72.07.

Equity Residential Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, January 17th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, January 2nd will be given a dividend of $0.675 per share. This represents a $2.70 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.68%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, January 2nd. Equity Residential’s dividend payout ratio is presently 110.66%.

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.