Equity Residential (NYSE:EQR) Receives Average Rating of “Moderate Buy” from Brokerages

Shares of Equity Residential (NYSE:EQR) have been given a consensus recommendation of “Moderate Buy” by the eighteen brokerages that are presently covering the stock, MarketBeat Ratings reports. Nine research analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and nine have given a buy recommendation to the company. The average twelve-month price target among brokerages that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $78.51.

EQR has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Barclays decreased their price target on Equity Residential from $83.00 to $79.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, January 24th. Scotiabank raised their target price on Equity Residential from $78.00 to $79.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Friday, February 14th. Truist Financial boosted their price target on shares of Equity Residential from $76.00 to $78.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, March 10th. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Equity Residential from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, February 8th. Finally, Mizuho reduced their target price on shares of Equity Residential from $78.00 to $74.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, January 6th.

Equity Residential Stock Performance

NYSE EQR opened at $71.38 on Monday. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $70.95 and a 200-day moving average price of $72.47. The firm has a market cap of $27.10 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.24, a PEG ratio of 3.99 and a beta of 0.91. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.72, a current ratio of 0.36 and a quick ratio of 0.36. Equity Residential has a 1 year low of $59.48 and a 1 year high of $78.84.

Equity Residential Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, April 17th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 31st will be issued a $0.6925 dividend. This is a positive change from Equity Residential’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.68. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 31st. This represents a $2.77 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.88%. Equity Residential’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 101.84%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CFO Robert Garechana sold 4,294 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $72.06, for a total transaction of $309,425.64. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 14,108 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,016,622.48. This represents a 23.33 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, COO Michael L. Manelis sold 9,487 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $72.07, for a total value of $683,728.09. Following the sale, the chief operating officer now owns 26,781 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,930,106.67. This represents a 26.16 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 19,763 shares of company stock worth $1,424,217. 1.00% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in EQR. Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of Equity Residential in the fourth quarter worth about $2,493,426,000. State Street Corp increased its holdings in Equity Residential by 1.4% in the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 23,922,127 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $1,796,976,000 after acquiring an additional 321,002 shares during the last quarter. APG Asset Management US Inc. grew its position in shares of Equity Residential by 0.5% during the fourth quarter. APG Asset Management US Inc. now owns 11,664,576 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $837,050,000 after purchasing an additional 57,660 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Equity Residential by 1.8% in the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 9,519,627 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $681,594,000 after buying an additional 165,683 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Principal Financial Group Inc. grew its holdings in Equity Residential by 2.0% during the 4th quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 7,897,863 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $566,749,000 after buying an additional 152,248 shares in the last quarter. 92.68% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

About Equity Residential

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.