Piper Sandler Reaffirms Neutral Rating for Equity Residential (NYSE:EQR)

Piper Sandler reiterated their neutral rating on shares of Equity Residential (NYSE:EQR) in a report released on Tuesday morning, Benzinga reports. Piper Sandler currently has a $62.00 target price on the real estate investment trust’s stock.

Other equities research analysts also recently issued reports about the stock. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their target price on shares of Equity Residential from $65.00 to $66.00 and gave the company an outperform rating in a report on Thursday, February 1st. Mizuho lowered their target price on shares of Equity Residential from $62.00 to $61.00 and set a neutral rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, February 28th. Raymond James upgraded shares of Equity Residential from an underperform rating to a market perform rating in a research note on Monday, March 18th. Morgan Stanley boosted their price objective on shares of Equity Residential from $58.00 to $64.00 and gave the stock an equal weight rating in a research note on Monday, February 26th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft started coverage on shares of Equity Residential in a research note on Tuesday, January 30th. They set a hold rating and a $64.00 price objective for the company. Eleven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of Hold and a consensus price target of $66.04.

Equity Residential Stock Up 0.9 %

Shares of NYSE EQR opened at $63.11 on Tuesday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.30, a current ratio of 0.30 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.66. The stock has a market capitalization of $23.95 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.69, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.60 and a beta of 0.84. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $60.70 and a 200 day moving average price of $59.53. Equity Residential has a 52 week low of $52.57 and a 52 week high of $69.45.

Equity Residential (NYSE:EQR) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, January 30th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.82 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.00 by ($0.18). The business had revenue of $727.50 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $725.07 million. Equity Residential had a return on equity of 7.43% and a net margin of 29.07%. The business’s revenue was up 4.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $0.94 EPS. Equities research analysts anticipate that Equity Residential will post 3.81 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Equity Residential Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, April 12th. Investors of record on Monday, March 25th will be issued a $0.675 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 22nd. This is a boost from Equity Residential’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.66. This represents a $2.70 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.28%. Equity Residential’s dividend payout ratio is currently 122.73%.

Insider Activity at Equity Residential

In related news, CFO Robert Garechana sold 876 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $57.80, for a total value of $50,632.80. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 20,933 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,209,927.40. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. In other Equity Residential news, CFO Robert Garechana sold 876 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $57.80, for a total transaction of $50,632.80. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 20,933 shares in the company, valued at $1,209,927.40. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, COO Michael L. Manelis sold 1,639 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, February 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $59.43, for a total transaction of $97,405.77. Following the sale, the chief operating officer now owns 31,053 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,845,479.79. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 3,280 shares of company stock valued at $192,335 over the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 1.69% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Equity Residential

Several institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Cibc World Market Inc. grew its position in shares of Equity Residential by 1.2% during the second quarter. Cibc World Market Inc. now owns 13,757 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $908,000 after acquiring an additional 161 shares during the last quarter. Cornercap Investment Counsel Inc. grew its position in shares of Equity Residential by 2.6% during the fourth quarter. Cornercap Investment Counsel Inc. now owns 7,291 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $446,000 after acquiring an additional 185 shares during the last quarter. Rye Brook Capital LLC grew its position in shares of Equity Residential by 0.4% during the third quarter. Rye Brook Capital LLC now owns 48,650 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $2,856,000 after acquiring an additional 200 shares during the last quarter. Chicago Partners Investment Group LLC grew its position in shares of Equity Residential by 1.5% during the fourth quarter. Chicago Partners Investment Group LLC now owns 13,864 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $815,000 after acquiring an additional 208 shares during the last quarter. Finally, First Affirmative Financial Network grew its position in shares of Equity Residential by 3.5% during the third quarter. First Affirmative Financial Network now owns 6,194 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $364,000 after acquiring an additional 210 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 92.68% of the company’s stock.

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.