Equity Residential (NYSE:EQR) Price Target Raised to $70.00 at Evercore ISI

Equity Residential (NYSE:EQR) had its price target increased by Evercore ISI from $67.00 to $70.00 in a report issued on Thursday, Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has an outperform rating on the real estate investment trust’s stock.

A number of other equities research analysts have also weighed in on EQR. Piper Sandler reaffirmed a neutral rating and set a $62.00 target price on shares of Equity Residential in a research report on Tuesday, March 26th. Raymond James upgraded Equity Residential from an underperform rating to a market perform rating in a research note on Monday, March 18th. Truist Financial lowered their price objective on Equity Residential from $71.00 to $67.00 and set a buy rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, April 9th. BMO Capital Markets upgraded shares of Equity Residential from a market perform rating to an outperform rating and lifted their price objective for the company from $68.00 to $70.00 in a report on Monday. Finally, 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. Ten investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of Hold and a consensus target price of $66.04.

Equity Residential Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:EQR traded up $0.62 during midday trading on Thursday, reaching $65.50. 940,749 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,088,172. The company has a market cap of $24.82 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.93, a P/E/G ratio of 3.76 and a beta of 0.84. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.64, a quick ratio of 0.30 and a current ratio of 0.23. Equity Residential has a one year low of $52.57 and a one year high of $69.45. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $61.89 and a 200 day moving average of $59.81.

Equity Residential (NYSE:EQR) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 23rd. The real estate investment trust reported $0.93 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.91 by $0.02. Equity Residential had a return on equity of 8.18% and a net margin of 31.70%. The business had revenue of $730.80 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $728.09 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $0.87 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 3.6% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Equity Residential will post 3.85 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Equity Residential Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, April 12th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 25th were issued a dividend of $0.675 per share. 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. This represents a $2.70 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.12%. Equity Residential’s payout ratio is 112.03%.

Insider Activity

In other news, COO Michael L. Manelis sold 1,639 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, February 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $59.43, for a total transaction of $97,405.77. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer now owns 31,053 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,845,479.79. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. In other news, 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 transaction of $97,405.77. Following the sale, the chief operating officer now owns 31,053 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,845,479.79. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CFO Robert Garechana sold 876 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 value of $50,632.80. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 20,933 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,209,927.40. 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. Company insiders own 1.00% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Equity Residential

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its stake in Equity Residential by 0.7% during the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 57,395,793 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $3,369,707,000 after buying an additional 372,181 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of Equity Residential in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $2,143,388,000. APG Asset Management US Inc. raised its position in shares of Equity Residential by 0.6% in the fourth quarter. APG Asset Management US Inc. now owns 11,598,251 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $709,349,000 after purchasing an additional 71,716 shares during the period. First Eagle Investment Management LLC increased its holdings in Equity Residential by 5.9% during the 4th quarter. First Eagle Investment Management LLC now owns 9,325,268 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $570,333,000 after acquiring an additional 516,941 shares during the period. Finally, Centersquare Investment Management LLC grew its stake in Equity Residential by 5.9% in the 4th quarter. Centersquare Investment Management LLC now owns 5,527,431 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $338,058,000 after buying an additional 309,796 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 92.68% of the company’s stock.

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.