Equity Residential (NYSE:EQR) Receives Consensus Rating of “Hold” from Brokerages

Shares of Equity Residential (NYSE:EQR) have been assigned an average rating of “Hold” from the twenty-three brokerages that are covering the company, Marketbeat reports. Fourteen equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. The average 1-year price objective among analysts that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $71.40.

EQR has been the topic of several analyst reports. Weiss Ratings raised Equity Residential from a “hold (c)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a research report on Monday, August 3rd. Wolfe Research upgraded Equity Residential from a “hold” rating to an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, June 1st. Stifel Nicolaus raised their target price on Equity Residential from $78.25 to $79.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, May 27th. Evercore lifted their price target on Equity Residential from $70.00 to $71.00 in a research report on Monday, June 8th. Finally, Mizuho boosted their price target on Equity Residential from $66.00 to $70.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, June 10th.

Equity Residential Stock Up 0.0%

EQR stock opened at $63.68 on Monday. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $66.96 and its 200-day simple moving average is $64.61. The company has a market capitalization of $23.88 billion, a P/E ratio of 27.69, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.53 and a beta of 0.73. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.77, a current ratio of 0.19 and a quick ratio of 0.19. Equity Residential has a 12 month low of $57.57 and a 12 month high of $71.50.

Equity Residential (NYSE:EQR) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 22nd. The real estate investment trust reported $1.02 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.01 by $0.01. The firm had revenue of $785.05 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $787.28 million. Equity Residential had a net margin of 27.97% and a return on equity of 8.06%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 2.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $0.99 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Equity Residential will post 4.08 earnings per share for the current year.

Equity Residential Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, July 10th. Investors of record on Monday, June 29th were issued a dividend of $0.7025 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, June 29th. This represents a $2.81 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.4%. Equity Residential’s dividend payout ratio is 122.17%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in EQR. Fulcrum Asset Management LLP purchased a new position in shares of Equity Residential in the 3rd quarter valued at about $27,000. Harvest Fund Management Co. Ltd purchased a new stake in shares of Equity Residential during the third quarter worth approximately $31,000. Zions Bancorporation National Association UT raised its position in shares of Equity Residential by 375.2% in the fourth quarter. Zions Bancorporation National Association UT now owns 480 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $30,000 after buying an additional 379 shares during the last quarter. DV Equities LLC purchased a new position in Equity Residential in the 4th quarter worth approximately $30,000. Finally, Independence Bank of Kentucky purchased a new position in Equity Residential during the second quarter worth approximately $36,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.68% of the company’s stock.

Equity Residential Company Profile

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.