Equity Residential (NYSE:EQR) Receives Consensus Recommendation of “Hold” from Brokerages

Shares of Equity Residential (NYSE:EQR) have received a consensus rating of “Hold” from the seventeen ratings firms that are covering the firm, MarketBeat.com reports. Ten investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and seven have assigned a buy recommendation to the company. The average 12 month target price among brokers that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $72.45.

EQR has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. Royal Bank Of Canada decreased their price target on Equity Residential from $72.00 to $70.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, October 30th. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their target price on Equity Residential from $75.00 to $68.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, August 27th. Evercore ISI lowered their price target on shares of Equity Residential from $70.00 to $68.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, November 3rd. Scotiabank reduced their price objective on shares of Equity Residential from $73.00 to $66.00 and set a “sector perform” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, November 4th. Finally, Morgan Stanley decreased their price objective on shares of Equity Residential from $76.50 to $75.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, August 13th.

Equity Residential Stock Up 1.7%

EQR stock opened at $59.68 on Tuesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $22.71 billion, a PE ratio of 19.70, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.99 and a beta of 0.88. The company has a fifty day moving average of $63.29 and a 200-day moving average of $66.01. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.75, a quick ratio of 0.17 and a current ratio of 0.45. Equity Residential has a one year low of $58.38 and a one year high of $78.32.

Equity Residential (NYSE:EQR) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 28th. The real estate investment trust reported $1.02 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of $1.02. Equity Residential had a net margin of 37.58% and a return on equity of 10.30%. The firm had revenue of $782.41 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $779.68 million. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $0.98 earnings per share. Equity Residential has set its Q4 2025 guidance at 1.020-1.060 EPS. FY 2025 guidance at 3.980-4.020 EPS. As a group, analysts expect that Equity Residential will post 3.98 EPS for the current year.

Equity Residential Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, October 10th. Investors of record on Thursday, September 25th were issued a $0.6925 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, September 25th. This represents a $2.77 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.6%. Equity Residential’s dividend payout ratio is currently 91.42%.

Institutional Trading of Equity Residential

Several large investors have recently bought and sold shares of EQR. Greenleaf Trust grew its stake in shares of Equity Residential by 4.4% during the first quarter. Greenleaf Trust now owns 3,858 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $276,000 after purchasing an additional 162 shares during the period. Brown Advisory Inc. boosted its holdings in Equity Residential by 1.6% during the first quarter. Brown Advisory Inc. now owns 10,733 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $768,000 after buying an additional 166 shares during the last quarter. Rothschild Investment LLC boosted its holdings in Equity Residential by 6.8% during the second quarter. Rothschild Investment LLC now owns 2,841 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $192,000 after buying an additional 182 shares during the last quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers grew its position in shares of Equity Residential by 0.4% during the 2nd quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers now owns 48,030 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $3,242,000 after buying an additional 183 shares during the period. Finally, CX Institutional increased its stake in shares of Equity Residential by 6.1% in the 3rd quarter. CX Institutional now owns 3,274 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $212,000 after acquiring an additional 189 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.68% of the company’s stock.

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.