Equity Residential (NYSE:EQR) Downgraded to In-Line at Evercore ISI

Evercore ISI lowered shares of Equity Residential (NYSE:EQR) from an outperform rating to an in-line rating in a report issued on Monday, Marketbeat reports. The firm currently has $70.00 price target on the real estate investment trust’s stock.

Other equities analysts also recently issued research reports about the company. Mizuho decreased their target price on Equity Residential from $62.00 to $61.00 and set a neutral rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, February 28th. Royal Bank of Canada upped their price objective on shares of Equity Residential from $65.00 to $66.00 and gave the company an outperform rating in a research note on Thursday, February 1st. Barclays lowered their target price on Equity Residential from $69.00 to $67.00 and set an equal weight rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, February 20th. Truist Financial dropped their target price on Equity Residential from $71.00 to $67.00 and set a buy rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, April 9th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets raised shares of 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 research report on Monday, April 22nd. Eleven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Equity Residential presently has an average rating of Hold and an average target price of $67.04.

Equity Residential Trading Down 0.1 %

Shares of EQR stock opened at $66.74 on Monday. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $63.14 and a 200-day simple moving average of $60.36. Equity Residential has a 1-year low of $52.57 and a 1-year high of $69.45. The company has a market cap of $25.33 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.69, a PEG ratio of 3.54 and a beta of 0.82. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.64, a current ratio of 0.23 and a quick ratio of 0.23.

Equity Residential (NYSE:EQR) last posted its quarterly earnings data 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 net margin of 31.70% and a return on equity of 8.18%. The business had revenue of $730.80 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $728.09 million. During the same period last year, the firm posted $0.87 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was up 3.6% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts expect that Equity Residential will post 3.87 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Equity Residential Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, April 12th. Shareholders 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 yield of 4.05%. Equity Residential’s dividend payout ratio is 112.03%.

Insider Transactions at Equity Residential

In related news, EVP Alexander Brackenridge sold 4,027 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, April 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $65.01, for a total transaction of $261,795.27. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 69,901 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,544,264.01. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. In related news, Director Mary Kay Haben sold 3,241 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, April 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $65.48, for a total value of $212,220.68. Following the transaction, the director now owns 9,720 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $636,465.60. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, EVP Alexander Brackenridge sold 4,027 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, April 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $65.01, for a total transaction of $261,795.27. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 69,901 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,544,264.01. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 1.00% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Equity Residential

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Financial Gravity Asset Management Inc. increased its stake in Equity Residential by 593.9% in the 3rd quarter. Financial Gravity Asset Management Inc. now owns 458 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $25,000 after buying an additional 392 shares during the period. Fidelis Capital Partners LLC acquired a new stake in Equity Residential in the first quarter valued at $27,000. Bruce G. Allen Investments LLC acquired a new stake in Equity Residential in the 4th quarter valued at about $28,000. Allworth Financial LP grew its position in shares of Equity Residential by 120.8% in the fourth quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 488 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $30,000 after purchasing an additional 267 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Voisard Asset Management Group Inc. purchased a new position in Equity Residential during the fourth quarter worth $33,000. Hedge funds and other 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.