Barclays Begins Coverage on Equity Residential (NYSE:EQR)

Barclays began coverage on shares of Equity Residential (NYSE:EQR) in a research note released on Tuesday morning, MarketBeat.com reports. The brokerage issued an overweight rating and a $83.00 price target on the real estate investment trust’s stock.

Other analysts have also issued reports about the stock. Royal Bank of Canada reduced their price target on shares of Equity Residential from $83.00 to $79.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, November 1st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price target on Equity Residential from $68.00 to $80.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, September 16th. BNP Paribas assumed coverage on Equity Residential in a research note on Wednesday, September 11th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $83.00 price objective on the stock. StockNews.com lowered Equity Residential from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 11th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company downgraded shares of Equity Residential from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and boosted their target price for the stock from $69.00 to $77.00 in a report on Monday, August 26th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have given a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $78.14.

Equity Residential Stock Performance

EQR stock opened at $69.49 on Tuesday. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $73.84 and a 200 day simple moving average of $72.09. The company has a market capitalization of $26.37 billion, a P/E ratio of 28.48, a PEG ratio of 5.90 and a beta of 0.92. The company has a quick ratio of 0.13, a current ratio of 0.13 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.76. Equity Residential has a fifty-two week low of $57.33 and a fifty-two week high of $78.83.

Equity Residential Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, January 17th. Investors of record on Thursday, January 2nd will be issued a dividend of $0.675 per share. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, January 2nd. This represents a $2.70 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.89%. Equity Residential’s payout ratio is presently 110.66%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Equity Residential

Several institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of EQR. Tobam increased its stake in Equity Residential by 8.6% in the 3rd quarter. Tobam now owns 1,927 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $143,000 after buying an additional 152 shares during the last quarter. Checchi Capital Advisers LLC raised its stake in shares of Equity Residential by 4.5% during the 2nd quarter. Checchi Capital Advisers LLC now owns 3,522 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $244,000 after purchasing an additional 153 shares in the last quarter. UMB Bank n.a. grew its stake in shares of Equity Residential by 69.6% in the third quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 475 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $35,000 after buying an additional 195 shares in the last quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. increased its holdings in Equity Residential by 32.7% during the second quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. now owns 811 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $56,000 after buying an additional 200 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Modera Wealth Management LLC raised its position in Equity Residential by 6.5% during the third quarter. Modera Wealth Management LLC now owns 3,278 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $244,000 after acquiring an additional 200 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.