Equity Residential (NYSE:EQR) Rating Increased to Hold at Wall Street Zen

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

A number of other research firms also recently commented on EQR. Stifel Nicolaus set a $78.50 price objective on Equity Residential in a report on Friday, February 6th. Piper Sandler set a $78.00 target price on Equity Residential in a report on Tuesday, January 27th. Weiss Ratings reissued a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Equity Residential in a research report on Thursday, January 22nd. BNP Paribas Exane upped their price target on Equity Residential from $66.00 to $68.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 3rd. Finally, Barclays cut their price objective on Equity Residential from $78.00 to $75.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, March 6th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seven have issued a Buy rating and twelve have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $69.73.

Equity Residential Price Performance

EQR opened at $58.75 on Friday. Equity Residential has a 1 year low of $57.57 and a 1 year high of $72.40. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $61.91 and its 200 day simple moving average is $61.97. The stock has a market capitalization of $22.18 billion, a PE ratio of 20.05, a P/E/G ratio of 4.43 and a beta of 0.75. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.73, a quick ratio of 0.31 and a current ratio of 0.31.

Equity Residential (NYSE:EQR) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 5th. The real estate investment trust reported $1.03 EPS 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 analyst estimates of $786.35 million. Equity Residential had a return on equity of 9.98% and a net margin of 36.20%.The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 2.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company 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, sell-side analysts expect that Equity Residential will post 3.98 EPS for the current year.

Equity Residential Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, April 10th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 30th will be given a $0.7025 dividend. This represents a $2.81 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.8%. This is a boost from Equity Residential’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.69. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 30th. Equity Residential’s dividend payout ratio is 95.90%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, EVP Catherine Carraway sold 656 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $65.13, for a total value 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. This represents a 3.45% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, COO Michael L. Manelis sold 5,765 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $65.13, for a total value of $375,474.45. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer owned 46,131 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,004,512.03. This trade represents a 11.11% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders have sold a total of 10,058 shares of company stock worth $655,078 over the last quarter. 1.10% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Equity Residential

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Insigneo Advisory Services LLC grew its position in Equity Residential by 4.9% in the fourth quarter. Insigneo Advisory Services LLC now owns 3,543 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $223,000 after acquiring an additional 165 shares in the last quarter. Rosenberg Matthew Hamilton lifted its position in shares of Equity Residential by 69.2% during the fourth quarter. Rosenberg Matthew Hamilton now owns 440 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $28,000 after purchasing an additional 180 shares in the last quarter. CX Institutional boosted its stake in shares of Equity Residential by 6.1% in the third quarter. CX Institutional now owns 3,274 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $212,000 after purchasing an additional 189 shares during the period. Summitry LLC boosted its stake in shares of Equity Residential by 6.3% in the third quarter. Summitry LLC now owns 3,193 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $207,000 after purchasing an additional 189 shares during the period. Finally, Louisiana State Employees Retirement System grew its holdings in Equity Residential by 1.1% during the 3rd quarter. Louisiana State Employees Retirement System now owns 18,200 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $1,178,000 after purchasing an additional 200 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.68% of the company’s stock.

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.