Brokerages Set Equity Residential (NYSE:EQR) Target Price at $72.84

Shares of Equity Residential (NYSE:EQR) have been assigned a consensus rating of “Hold” from the seventeen ratings firms that are covering the firm, MarketBeat Ratings reports. Twelve equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the company. The average 1 year price target among analysts that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $72.84.

EQR has been the subject of several research reports. Wedbush raised their target price on Equity Residential from $68.00 to $75.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, August 5th. Scotiabank increased their price target on Equity Residential from $73.00 to $77.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a report on Monday, August 26th. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their price objective on Equity Residential from $74.00 to $75.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 31st. Wells Fargo & Company cut Equity Residential from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and increased their target price for the stock from $69.00 to $77.00 in a report on Monday, August 26th. Finally, Piper Sandler lifted their price target on shares of Equity Residential from $80.00 to $85.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 31st.

Insiders Place Their Bets

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 stock was sold at an average price of $69.08, for a total value of $439,141.56. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 14,576 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,006,910.08. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Insiders own 1.00% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Equity Residential

Several institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in EQR. Fidelis Capital Partners LLC bought a new stake in Equity Residential in the first quarter worth about $27,000. Voisard Asset Management Group Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Equity Residential during the 4th quarter worth approximately $33,000. Massmutual Trust Co. FSB ADV raised its holdings in shares of Equity Residential by 41.9% in the 2nd quarter. Massmutual Trust Co. FSB ADV now owns 525 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $36,000 after purchasing an additional 155 shares during the period. HHM Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its stake in Equity Residential by 146.6% in the second quarter. HHM Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 550 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $38,000 after purchasing an additional 327 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Richardson Financial Services Inc. bought a new position in Equity Residential during the first quarter valued at $41,000. Institutional investors own 92.68% of the company’s stock.

Equity Residential Price Performance

Equity Residential stock opened at $74.34 on Thursday. The stock has a market capitalization of $28.22 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 30.85, a PEG ratio of 4.17 and a beta of 0.89. Equity Residential has a 52-week low of $52.57 and a 52-week high of $76.75. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.64, a quick ratio of 0.21 and a current ratio of 0.21. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $70.88 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $66.51.

Equity Residential (NYSE:EQR) last released its earnings results on Monday, July 29th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.47 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.96 by ($0.49). The company had revenue of $734.20 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $735.26 million. Equity Residential had a net margin of 32.83% and a return on equity of 8.53%. The firm’s revenue was up 2.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $0.94 EPS. On average, equities analysts predict that Equity Residential will post 3.89 earnings per share for the current year.

Equity Residential Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, July 12th. Shareholders of record on Monday, July 1st were given a $0.675 dividend. This represents a $2.70 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.63%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, July 1st. 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.