Equity Residential (NYSE:EQR) Receives $71.40 Average Target Price from Brokerages

Shares of Equity Residential (NYSE:EQR) have been assigned an average recommendation of “Hold” from the twenty-three ratings firms that are currently covering the company, MarketBeat reports. Fourteen research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. The average 12 month price target among brokerages that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $71.40.

A number of analysts have commented on the company. Evercore lifted their target price on Equity Residential from $70.00 to $71.00 in a report on Monday, June 8th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reaffirmed a “hold” rating and set a $72.00 price target on shares of Equity Residential in a report on Monday, July 20th. Wolfe Research upgraded Equity Residential from a “hold” rating to an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, June 1st. Jefferies Financial Group raised Equity Residential to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 22nd. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada cut shares of Equity Residential from an “outperform” rating to a “sector perform” rating and upped their target price for the company from $69.00 to $70.00 in a research note on Monday, June 8th.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Equity Residential

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Brown Lisle Cummings Inc. grew its position in Equity Residential by 1,000.0% in the 2nd quarter. Brown Lisle Cummings Inc. now owns 2,200 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $149,000 after purchasing an additional 2,000 shares during the period. VIRGINIA RETIREMENT SYSTEMS ET Al bought a new position in shares of Equity Residential during the 2nd quarter valued at $11,418,000. First Eagle Investment Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Equity Residential by 0.6% during the 2nd quarter. First Eagle Investment Management LLC now owns 9,529,108 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $647,312,000 after buying an additional 59,415 shares during the period. California State Teachers Retirement System boosted its stake in shares of Equity Residential by 6,638.4% in the 2nd quarter. California State Teachers Retirement System now owns 38,021,100 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $2,582,773,000 after buying an additional 37,456,854 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Independence Bank of Kentucky purchased a new position in shares of Equity Residential in the 2nd quarter worth $36,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.68% of the company’s stock.

Equity Residential Stock Up 0.0%

Shares of Equity Residential stock opened at $63.68 on Monday. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $66.68 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $64.60. The stock has a market capitalization of $23.88 billion, a PE ratio of 27.69, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.53 and a beta of 0.73. Equity Residential has a 52-week low of $57.57 and a 52-week high of $71.50. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.77, a quick ratio of 0.19 and a current ratio of 0.19.

Equity Residential (NYSE:EQR) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 22nd. The real estate investment trust reported $1.02 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.01 by $0.01. Equity Residential had a net margin of 27.97% and a return on equity of 8.06%. The firm had revenue of $785.05 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $787.28 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $0.99 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 2.1% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts anticipate that Equity Residential will post 4.08 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Equity Residential Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, July 10th. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 29th were issued a dividend of $0.7025 per share. This represents a $2.81 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.4%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, June 29th. Equity Residential’s payout ratio is presently 122.17%.

Equity Residential Company Profile

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.