Equity Residential (NYSE:EQR) Posts Quarterly Earnings Results, Beats Expectations By $0.02 EPS

Equity Residential (NYSE:EQR) released its earnings results on Tuesday. The real estate investment trust reported $0.93 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.91 by $0.02, RTT News reports. The business had revenue of $730.80 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $728.09 million. Equity Residential had a return on equity of 7.43% and a net margin of 29.07%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 3.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the business earned $0.87 earnings per share. Equity Residential updated its Q2 guidance to $0.92-0.96 EPS.

Equity Residential Trading Up 0.9 %

EQR traded up $0.55 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, reaching $63.09. The stock had a trading volume of 2,479,404 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,073,714. The stock has a market capitalization of $23.91 billion, a P/E ratio of 28.43, a P/E/G ratio of 3.57 and a beta of 0.84. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.66, a quick ratio of 0.30 and a current ratio of 0.30. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $61.58 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $59.71. Equity Residential has a 52 week low of $52.57 and a 52 week high of $69.45.

Equity Residential Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, April 12th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 25th were issued a $0.675 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, March 22nd. This is a boost from Equity Residential’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.66. This represents a $2.70 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.28%. Equity Residential’s dividend payout ratio is presently 122.73%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, COO Michael L. Manelis sold 1,639 shares of Equity Residential stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $59.43, for a total transaction of $97,405.77. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer now owns 31,053 shares in the company, valued at $1,845,479.79. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. In other news, CAO Ian Kaufman sold 716 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $57.80, for a total transaction of $41,384.80. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 23,949 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,384,252.20. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, COO Michael L. Manelis sold 1,639 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, February 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $59.43, for a total transaction of $97,405.77. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer now directly owns 31,053 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,845,479.79. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 3,280 shares of company stock worth $192,335. Corporate insiders own 1.00% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts have commented on the stock. Barclays lowered their target price on shares of Equity Residential from $69.00 to $67.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, February 20th. Mizuho decreased their target price on shares of Equity Residential from $62.00 to $61.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, February 28th. Piper Sandler reiterated a “neutral” rating and set a $62.00 price target on shares of Equity Residential in a research report on Tuesday, March 26th. The Goldman Sachs Group reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $70.00 price target on shares of Equity Residential in a research note on Thursday, February 22nd. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft initiated coverage on shares of Equity Residential in a report on Tuesday, January 30th. They issued a “hold” rating and a $64.00 price target for the company. Ten analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $65.75.

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.