Equity Residential (NYSE:EQR) Lowered to Neutral at Bank of America

Bank of America downgraded shares of Equity Residential (NYSE:EQR) from a buy rating to a neutral rating in a report published on Tuesday morning, MarketBeat reports. The firm currently has $82.00 price objective on the real estate investment trust’s stock, up from their prior price objective of $78.00.

Other equities analysts have also recently issued reports about the stock. Scotiabank boosted their price objective on shares of Equity Residential from $77.00 to $81.00 and gave the company a sector perform rating in a research note on Monday, September 16th. Mizuho increased their price target on Equity Residential from $61.00 to $64.00 and gave the stock a neutral rating in a research note on Thursday, May 30th. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their target price on Equity Residential from $74.00 to $75.00 and gave the company an outperform rating in a report on Wednesday, July 31st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price target on Equity Residential from $68.00 to $80.00 and gave the company a neutral rating in a report on Monday, September 16th. Finally, BNP Paribas assumed coverage on Equity Residential in a research report on Wednesday, September 11th. They issued an outperform rating and a $83.00 target price for the company. Thirteen investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Equity Residential presently has a consensus rating of Hold and a consensus target price of $75.97.

Equity Residential Stock Down 1.9 %

Shares of NYSE:EQR opened at $75.28 on Tuesday. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $73.03 and a 200 day moving average price of $67.87. The company has a market capitalization of $28.57 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.24, a PEG ratio of 4.27 and a beta of 0.89. Equity Residential has a 12-month low of $52.57 and a 12-month high of $78.83. The company has a current ratio of 0.21, a quick ratio of 0.21 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.64.

Equity Residential (NYSE:EQR) last released its 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). Equity Residential had a return on equity of 8.53% and a net margin of 32.83%. The firm had revenue of $734.20 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $735.26 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $0.94 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 2.4% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts expect that Equity Residential will post 3.89 EPS for the current year.

Equity Residential Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared 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. This represents a $2.70 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.59%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, September 24th. Equity Residential’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 112.03%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Equity Residential

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Fidelis Capital Partners LLC acquired a new position in Equity Residential in the first quarter worth $27,000. Voisard Asset Management Group Inc. acquired a new position in Equity Residential in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $33,000. Massmutual Trust Co. FSB ADV boosted its stake in Equity Residential by 41.9% in the second quarter. Massmutual Trust Co. FSB ADV now owns 525 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $36,000 after acquiring an additional 155 shares during the last quarter. HHM Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its stake in shares of Equity Residential by 146.6% in the 2nd 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 period. Finally, Richardson Financial Services Inc. acquired a new position in Equity Residential in the first quarter valued at about $41,000. Institutional investors 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.