Equity Residential (NYSE:EQR) Updates Q2 Earnings Guidance

Equity Residential (NYSE:EQR) updated its second quarter earnings guidance on Tuesday morning. The company provided earnings per share guidance of $0.92-0.96 for the period, compared to the consensus earnings per share estimate of $0.96. Equity Residential also updated its FY 2024 guidance to 3.800-3.900 EPS.

Equity Residential Stock Up 1.2 %

EQR traded up $0.81 on Friday, hitting $65.69. The company had a trading volume of 313,081 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,080,791. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $61.89 and a 200-day moving average price of $59.81. Equity Residential has a 12-month low of $52.57 and a 12-month high of $69.45. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.64, a quick ratio of 0.30 and a current ratio of 0.23. The stock has a market capitalization of $24.89 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.93, a P/E/G ratio of 3.76 and a beta of 0.84.

Equity Residential (NYSE:EQR) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, April 23rd. The real estate investment trust reported $0.93 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.91 by $0.02. Equity Residential had a return on equity of 8.18% and a net margin of 31.70%. The company had revenue of $730.80 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $728.09 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $0.87 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 3.6% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts predict that Equity Residential will post 3.85 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Equity Residential Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, April 12th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 25th were paid a $0.675 dividend. This represents a $2.70 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.11%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, March 22nd. This is a positive change from Equity Residential’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.66. Equity Residential’s payout ratio is 112.03%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts have weighed in on the company. Barclays lowered their price target on Equity Residential from $69.00 to $67.00 and set an equal weight rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, February 20th. Raymond James raised Equity Residential from an underperform rating to a market perform rating in a report on Monday, March 18th. Piper Sandler reissued a neutral rating and issued a $62.00 price target on shares of Equity Residential in a report on Tuesday, March 26th. BMO Capital Markets raised Equity Residential from a market perform rating to an outperform rating and boosted their price target for the company from $68.00 to $70.00 in a report on Monday. Finally, Truist Financial decreased their price target on Equity Residential from $71.00 to $67.00 and set a buy rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, April 9th. Ten investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Equity Residential currently has an average rating of Hold and a consensus target price of $66.04.

Insider Activity

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

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.