Equity Residential Plans Quarterly Dividend of $0.68 (NYSE:EQR)

Equity Residential (NYSE:EQR) declared a quarterly dividend on Thursday, December 12th,RTT News reports. Stockholders of record on Thursday, January 2nd will be given a dividend of 0.675 per share by the real estate investment trust on Friday, January 17th. This represents a $2.70 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.79%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, January 2nd.

Equity Residential has increased its dividend by an average of 3.2% annually over the last three years. Equity Residential has a payout ratio of 172.0% indicating that the company cannot currently cover its dividend with earnings alone and is relying on its balance sheet to cover its dividend payments. Equities research analysts expect Equity Residential to earn $4.03 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $2.70 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 67.0%.

Equity Residential Stock Down 0.6 %

Shares of NYSE EQR opened at $71.16 on Tuesday. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $73.48 and a 200 day moving average price of $72.48. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.76, a quick ratio of 0.13 and a current ratio of 0.13. The stock has a market cap of $27.00 billion, a P/E ratio of 29.16, a P/E/G 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.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms have weighed in on EQR. Evercore ISI lifted their target price on Equity Residential from $75.00 to $76.00 and gave the stock an “in-line” rating in a report on Monday, September 16th. Barclays started coverage on Equity Residential in a report on Tuesday, December 17th. They issued an “overweight” rating and a $83.00 price target on the stock. Royal Bank of Canada decreased their price objective on Equity Residential from $83.00 to $79.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Friday, November 1st. Stifel Nicolaus raised Equity Residential from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their price target for the stock from $77.75 to $81.50 in a research report on Wednesday, November 13th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price objective on shares of Equity Residential from $68.00 to $80.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, September 16th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have given a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $78.14.

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.