Piper Sandler Raises Equity Residential (NYSE:EQR) Price Target to $70.00

Equity Residential (NYSE:EQR) had its price objective boosted by Piper Sandler from $62.00 to $70.00 in a research note published on Monday, Benzinga reports. They currently have a neutral rating on the real estate investment trust’s stock.

A number of other analysts have also commented on EQR. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their price objective on shares of Equity Residential from $65.00 to $66.00 and gave the stock an outperform rating in a research report on Thursday, February 1st. Mizuho cut their price target on shares of Equity Residential from $62.00 to $61.00 and set a neutral rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, February 28th. Truist Financial decreased their price objective on Equity Residential from $71.00 to $67.00 and set a buy rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, April 9th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft assumed coverage on Equity Residential in a report on Tuesday, January 30th. They set a hold rating and a $64.00 target price on the stock. Finally, BMO Capital Markets upgraded Equity Residential from a market perform rating to an outperform rating and raised their price target for the company from $68.00 to $70.00 in a research note on Monday, April 22nd. Ten equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of Hold and a consensus target price of $67.04.

Equity Residential Stock Performance

EQR opened at $64.04 on Monday. The company has a market capitalization of $24.31 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.57, a P/E/G ratio of 3.79 and a beta of 0.84. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $62.24 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $59.93. Equity Residential has a 1 year low of $52.57 and a 1 year high of $69.45. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.64, a current ratio of 0.23 and a quick ratio of 0.30.

Equity Residential (NYSE:EQR) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 23rd. The real estate investment trust reported $0.93 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.91 by $0.02. The business had revenue of $730.80 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $728.09 million. Equity Residential had a return on equity of 8.18% and a net margin of 31.70%. Equity Residential’s quarterly revenue was up 3.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company earned $0.87 earnings per share. Equities analysts expect that Equity Residential will post 3.85 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Equity Residential Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, April 12th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 25th were issued a $0.675 dividend. This is an increase from Equity Residential’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.66. This represents a $2.70 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.22%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, March 22nd. Equity Residential’s payout ratio is currently 112.03%.

Insider Activity

In related news, CAO Ian Kaufman sold 716 shares of Equity Residential stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $57.80, for a total transaction of $41,384.80. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 23,949 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,384,252.20. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. In other Equity Residential news, CFO Robert Garechana sold 876 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $57.80, for a total transaction of $50,632.80. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 20,933 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,209,927.40. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CAO Ian Kaufman sold 716 shares of Equity Residential stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $57.80, for a total value of $41,384.80. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 23,949 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,384,252.20. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 10,548 shares of company stock valued at $666,351 over the last ninety days. 1.00% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Equity Residential

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the business. Cornercap Investment Counsel Inc. boosted its holdings in Equity Residential by 2.6% in the 4th quarter. Cornercap Investment Counsel Inc. now owns 7,291 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $446,000 after purchasing an additional 185 shares during the period. Chicago Partners Investment Group LLC boosted its stake in shares of Equity Residential by 1.5% in the fourth quarter. Chicago Partners Investment Group LLC now owns 13,864 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $815,000 after buying an additional 208 shares during the period. Czech National Bank grew its position in Equity Residential by 0.3% during the first quarter. Czech National Bank now owns 60,730 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $3,833,000 after buying an additional 210 shares in the last quarter. Covestor Ltd grew its position in Equity Residential by 17.3% during the third quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 1,626 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $95,000 after buying an additional 240 shares in the last quarter. Finally, US Bancorp DE increased its stake in Equity Residential by 0.4% during the 4th quarter. US Bancorp DE now owns 67,535 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $4,130,000 after acquiring an additional 251 shares during the period. 92.68% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.