Royal Bank of Canada Issues Pessimistic Forecast for Equity Residential (NYSE:EQR) Stock Price

Equity Residential (NYSE:EQR) had its target price decreased by Royal Bank of Canada from $83.00 to $79.00 in a research report issued to clients and investors on Friday, Benzinga reports. The brokerage presently has an “outperform” rating on the real estate investment trust’s stock. Royal Bank of Canada’s price target points to a potential upside of 14.29% from the company’s current price.

A number of other brokerages have also recently issued reports on EQR. Wells Fargo & Company cut shares of Equity Residential from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and boosted their target price for the company from $69.00 to $77.00 in a research report on Monday, August 26th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upgraded shares of Equity Residential from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their target price for the stock from $62.00 to $83.00 in a research report on Tuesday, September 10th. Scotiabank lifted their price target on shares of Equity Residential from $77.00 to $81.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Monday, September 16th. Wedbush increased their price target on Equity Residential from $68.00 to $75.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, August 5th. Finally, UBS Group lifted their price objective on Equity Residential from $75.00 to $82.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, July 18th. Twelve research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $76.19.

Equity Residential Stock Down 1.8 %

Shares of EQR opened at $69.12 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $26.21 billion, a P/E ratio of 28.33, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 6.16 and a beta of 0.89. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.64, a quick ratio of 0.21 and a current ratio of 0.21. Equity Residential has a 52 week low of $53.28 and a 52 week high of $78.83. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $74.69 and its 200 day simple moving average is $70.09.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Equity Residential

Several large investors have recently bought and sold shares of EQR. Principal Financial Group Inc. increased its position in Equity Residential by 482.3% in the 2nd quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 7,153,749 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $496,040,000 after acquiring an additional 5,925,177 shares during the period. National Bank of Canada FI raised its position in Equity Residential by 679.0% during the 2nd quarter. National Bank of Canada FI now owns 594,774 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $40,528,000 after purchasing an additional 518,424 shares during the last quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Holdings Inc. raised its position in Equity Residential by 39.6% during the 2nd quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Holdings Inc. now owns 1,676,445 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $116,245,000 after purchasing an additional 475,124 shares during the last quarter. Sei Investments Co. lifted its holdings in Equity Residential by 77.5% during the 1st quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 1,061,862 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $67,014,000 after buying an additional 463,664 shares during the period. Finally, SG Americas Securities LLC grew its position in shares of Equity Residential by 793.8% in the 1st quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 444,791 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $28,071,000 after buying an additional 395,029 shares during the last quarter. 92.68% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.