Equity Residential (NYSE:EQR) Price Target Raised to $81.00

Equity Residential (NYSE:EQR) had its price target raised by Scotiabank from $77.00 to $81.00 in a research note released on Monday morning, Benzinga reports. They currently have a sector perform rating on the real estate investment trust’s stock.

EQR has been the subject of several other research reports. Evercore ISI upped their price objective on shares of Equity Residential from $75.00 to $76.00 and gave the stock an in-line rating in a report on Monday. Mizuho upped their price objective on shares of Equity Residential from $61.00 to $64.00 and gave the stock a neutral rating in a report on Thursday, May 30th. Truist Financial upped their price objective on shares of Equity Residential from $73.00 to $77.00 and gave the stock a buy rating in a report on Thursday, August 29th. UBS Group upped their price objective on shares of Equity Residential from $75.00 to $82.00 and gave the stock a buy rating in a report on Thursday, July 18th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on shares of Equity Residential from $68.00 to $80.00 and gave the stock a neutral rating in a report on Monday. Twelve analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of Hold and an average price target of $75.62.

Equity Residential Stock Performance

Shares of EQR opened at $77.08 on Monday. Equity Residential has a 1 year low of $52.57 and a 1 year high of $78.83. The company has a market cap of $29.26 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.98, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.27 and a beta of 0.89. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.64, a quick ratio of 0.21 and a current ratio of 0.21. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $72.34 and a 200-day moving average of $67.45.

Equity Residential (NYSE:EQR) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Monday, July 29th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.47 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.96 by ($0.49). Equity Residential had a net margin of 32.83% and a return on equity of 8.53%. The firm had revenue of $734.20 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $735.26 million. During the same period last year, the firm posted $0.94 EPS. The business’s revenue was up 2.4% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Equity Residential will post 3.89 earnings per share for the current year.

Equity Residential Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, October 11th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, September 24th will be given a dividend of $0.675 per share. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, September 24th. This represents a $2.70 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.50%. Equity Residential’s payout ratio is presently 112.03%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Equity Residential

In other news, CFO Robert Garechana sold 6,357 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, June 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $69.08, for a total value of $439,141.56. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 14,576 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,006,910.08. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Company insiders own 1.00% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Equity Residential

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Fidelis Capital Partners LLC purchased a new position in shares of Equity Residential during the 1st quarter valued at $27,000. Voisard Asset Management Group Inc. purchased a new position in Equity Residential in the fourth quarter valued at about $33,000. Massmutual Trust Co. FSB ADV increased its position in Equity Residential by 41.9% in the 2nd quarter. Massmutual Trust Co. FSB ADV now owns 525 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $36,000 after purchasing an additional 155 shares during the last quarter. HHM Wealth Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of Equity Residential by 146.6% during the 2nd quarter. HHM Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 550 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $38,000 after purchasing an additional 327 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Richardson Financial Services Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Equity Residential during the 1st quarter valued at about $41,000. 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.