Equity Residential (NYSE:EQR) Rating Increased to Strong-Buy at Argus

Argus upgraded shares of Equity Residential (NYSE:EQR) to a strong-buy rating in a research report sent to investors on Wednesday,Zacks.com reports.

Several other analysts have also commented on EQR. Truist Financial decreased their price target on Equity Residential from $75.00 to $70.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, November 17th. Stifel Nicolaus set a $78.50 target price on shares of Equity Residential in a research note on Friday, February 6th. Morgan Stanley reduced their price objective on Equity Residential from $75.00 to $73.50 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, November 13th. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Equity Residential from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Sunday, March 8th. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada lowered their target price on shares of Equity Residential from $70.00 to $68.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, January 15th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, six have assigned a Buy rating and thirteen have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $69.70.

Equity Residential Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:EQR opened at $60.23 on Wednesday. The firm has a market cap of $22.74 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.56, a P/E/G ratio of 4.53 and a beta of 0.75. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $62.38 and a 200 day moving average price of $62.47. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.73, a quick ratio of 0.31 and a current ratio of 0.31. Equity Residential has a fifty-two week low of $58.38 and a fifty-two week high of $72.64.

Equity Residential (NYSE:EQR) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 5th. The real estate investment trust reported $1.03 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.04 by ($0.01). The business had revenue of $781.91 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $786.35 million. Equity Residential had a net margin of 36.20% and a return on equity of 9.98%. Equity Residential’s revenue for the quarter was up 2.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $1.00 EPS. Equity Residential has set its Q1 2026 guidance at 0.940-0.980 EPS and its FY 2026 guidance at 4.020-4.140 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Equity Residential will post 3.98 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Transactions at Equity Residential

In other news, EVP Robert Garechana sold 3,637 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $65.13, for a total value of $236,877.81. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president owned 18,740 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,220,536.20. This represents a 16.25% 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 5,765 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $65.13, for a total value of $375,474.45. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer directly owned 46,131 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,004,512.03. The trade was a 11.11% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. In the last quarter, insiders sold 10,058 shares of company stock valued at $655,078. Corporate insiders own 1.10% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Equity Residential

Large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Empowered Funds LLC boosted its position in Equity Residential by 3.1% in the 1st quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 7,489 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $536,000 after buying an additional 226 shares during the last quarter. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. purchased a new position in Equity Residential during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $850,000. ProShare Advisors LLC increased its holdings in Equity Residential by 3.5% in the second quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC now owns 89,212 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $6,021,000 after purchasing an additional 2,988 shares during the last quarter. National Pension Service boosted its stake in Equity Residential by 0.7% during the 2nd quarter. National Pension Service now owns 578,904 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $39,070,000 after acquiring an additional 3,762 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Jupiter Asset Management Ltd. bought a new position in shares of Equity Residential during the 2nd quarter valued at about $649,000. 92.68% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

About Equity Residential

Equity Residential (NYSE: EQR) is a publicly traded real estate investment trust that acquires, develops, owns and operates rental apartment properties. Headquartered in Chicago, the company focuses on delivering professionally managed, market-rate apartment homes and related services to renters. Its operations cover a range of property types, including high-rise and mid-rise assets, with amenities and on-site management designed to support resident retention and occupancy.

The company’s core activities include property acquisitions, development and redevelopment, leasing, and day-to-day property management.