Equity Residential (NYSE:EQR) Lowered to Sell Rating by Wall Street Zen

Wall Street Zen lowered shares of Equity Residential (NYSE:EQR) from a hold rating to a sell rating in a research report released on Saturday morning.

A number of other research firms have also recently issued reports on EQR. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price objective on Equity Residential from $68.00 to $62.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Monday, November 10th. Piper Sandler set a $78.00 target price on Equity Residential in a research report on Tuesday, January 27th. UBS Group raised their price target on shares of Equity Residential from $68.00 to $71.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, January 8th. Truist Financial dropped their target price on Equity Residential from $75.00 to $70.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, November 17th. Finally, Barclays reissued an “overweight” rating and set a $78.00 target price on shares of Equity Residential in a research report on Tuesday, January 13th. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and thirteen have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $69.78.

Equity Residential Stock Down 1.5%

Shares of NYSE:EQR opened at $63.19 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $23.86 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.57, a PEG ratio of 4.75 and a beta of 0.76. Equity Residential has a 12 month low of $58.38 and a 12 month high of $75.86. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $62.52 and a 200 day moving average price of $62.59. The company has a current ratio of 0.31, a quick ratio of 0.31 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.73.

Equity Residential (NYSE:EQR) last released its earnings results on Thursday, February 5th. The real estate investment trust reported $1.03 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.04 by ($0.01). The company had revenue of $781.91 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $786.35 million. Equity Residential had a net margin of 36.20% and a return on equity of 9.98%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 2.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $1.00 EPS. Equity Residential has set its Q1 2026 guidance at 0.940-0.980 EPS and its FY 2026 guidance at 4.020-4.140 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Equity Residential will post 3.98 earnings per share for the current year.

Equity Residential Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, January 16th. Stockholders of record on Friday, January 2nd were given a dividend of $0.6925 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, January 2nd. This represents a $2.77 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.4%. Equity Residential’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 94.54%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Equity Residential

In other news, EVP Catherine Carraway sold 656 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $65.13, for a total transaction of $42,725.28. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president owned 18,339 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,194,419.07. The trade was a 3.45% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, EVP Robert Garechana sold 3,637 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $65.13, for a total value of $236,877.81. Following the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 18,740 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,220,536.20. The trade was a 16.25% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 10,058 shares of company stock valued at $655,078. Company insiders own 1.10% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Equity Residential

Hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the business. DGS Capital Management LLC purchased a new position in Equity Residential during the fourth quarter worth approximately $298,000. Corient Private Wealth LLC raised its position in Equity Residential by 6.4% in the fourth quarter. Corient Private Wealth LLC now owns 89,109 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $5,553,000 after purchasing an additional 5,348 shares during the period. Beacon Pointe Advisors LLC lifted its stake in Equity Residential by 3.0% during the 4th quarter. Beacon Pointe Advisors LLC now owns 34,144 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $2,152,000 after acquiring an additional 1,000 shares in the last quarter. State of Tennessee Department of Treasury lifted its position in shares of Equity Residential by 27.4% during the fourth quarter. State of Tennessee Department of Treasury now owns 1,058,213 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $65,948,000 after purchasing an additional 227,806 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Mackenzie Financial Corp lifted its holdings in Equity Residential by 24.2% during the 4th quarter. Mackenzie Financial Corp now owns 89,663 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $5,682,000 after buying an additional 17,465 shares in the last quarter. 92.68% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

About Equity Residential

Equity Residential (NYSE: EQR) is a publicly traded real estate investment trust that acquires, develops, owns and operates rental apartment properties. Headquartered in Chicago, the company focuses on delivering professionally managed, market-rate apartment homes and related services to renters. Its operations cover a range of property types, including high-rise and mid-rise assets, with amenities and on-site management designed to support resident retention and occupancy.

The company’s core activities include property acquisitions, development and redevelopment, leasing, and day-to-day property management.