Barclays Cuts Equity Residential (NYSE:EQR) Price Target to $79.00

Equity Residential (NYSE:EQR) had its price target decreased by Barclays from $83.00 to $79.00 in a report published on Friday,Benzinga reports. Barclays currently has an overweight rating on the real estate investment trust’s stock.

EQR has been the subject of a number of other research reports. Scotiabank dropped their target price on shares of Equity Residential from $81.00 to $78.00 and set a “sector perform” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, November 14th. Mizuho dropped their target price on shares of Equity Residential from $78.00 to $74.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, January 6th. StockNews.com upgraded Equity Residential from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, January 13th. Stifel Nicolaus upgraded Equity Residential from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their target price for the company from $77.75 to $81.50 in a research report on Wednesday, November 13th. Finally, 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 report on Friday, November 1st. Eleven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $78.36.

Equity Residential Trading Up 0.2 %

Shares of Equity Residential stock opened at $68.33 on Friday. 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 12-month low of $57.33 and a 12-month high of $78.83. The company has a market capitalization of $25.92 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.00, a PEG ratio of 5.36 and a beta of 0.93. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $72.00 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $72.62.

Equity Residential Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, January 17th. Investors of record on Thursday, January 2nd were issued a dividend of $0.675 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, January 2nd. This represents a $2.70 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.95%. Equity Residential’s dividend payout ratio is 110.66%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Equity Residential

Several institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of EQR. Maryland Capital Advisors Inc. bought a new position in shares of Equity Residential in the third quarter worth approximately $25,000. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB bought a new position in shares of Equity Residential during the third quarter valued at approximately $29,000. Assetmark Inc. lifted its stake in Equity Residential by 2,529.4% in the third quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 447 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $33,000 after acquiring an additional 430 shares during the period. Brooklyn Investment Group purchased a new position in Equity Residential during the 3rd quarter valued at $33,000. Finally, UMB Bank n.a. raised its holdings in Equity Residential by 69.6% in the 3rd quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 475 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $35,000 after purchasing an additional 195 shares in the last quarter. 92.68% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.