Equity Residential (NYSE:EQR) Sets New 12-Month High – Time to Buy?

Equity Residential (NYSE:EQR)’s stock price hit a new 52-week high during mid-day trading on Tuesday . The company traded as high as $70.19 and last traded at $69.96, with a volume of 2030816 shares traded. The stock had previously closed at $69.83.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

EQR has been the topic of a number of research reports. Royal Bank Of Canada cut shares of Equity Residential from an “outperform” rating to a “sector perform” rating and increased their target price for the stock from $69.00 to $70.00 in a report on Monday, June 8th. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their price target on Equity Residential from $78.25 to $79.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 27th. Weiss Ratings upgraded shares of Equity Residential from a “hold (c)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 1st. BNP Paribas Exane lifted their target price on Equity Residential from $68.00 to $70.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, May 18th. Finally, Piper Sandler reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and issued a $72.00 price target (down from $78.00) on shares of Equity Residential in a report on Friday, May 29th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nine have assigned a Buy rating and thirteen have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $70.65.

Equity Residential Price Performance

The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $66.57 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $63.44. The company has a quick ratio of 0.18, a current ratio of 0.18 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.77. The firm has a market capitalization of $25.60 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.33, a P/E/G ratio of 5.57 and a beta of 0.74.

Equity Residential (NYSE:EQR) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 28th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.24 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.33 by ($0.09). The firm had revenue of $779.85 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $781.79 million. Equity Residential had a net margin of 30.63% and a return on equity of 8.57%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 2.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $0.95 earnings per share. Equity Residential has set its FY 2026 guidance at 4.020-4.140 EPS and its Q2 2026 guidance at 0.980-1.020 EPS. Analysts anticipate that Equity Residential will post 4.09 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Equity Residential Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, July 10th. Shareholders of record on Monday, June 29th will be given a $0.7025 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, June 29th. This represents a $2.81 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.1%. Equity Residential’s payout ratio is currently 112.40%.

Institutional Trading of Equity Residential

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the company. CX Institutional boosted its holdings in Equity Residential by 5.7% during the second quarter. CX Institutional now owns 2,939 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $200,000 after acquiring an additional 159 shares during the period. Insigneo Advisory Services LLC raised its stake in shares of Equity Residential by 4.9% in the fourth quarter. Insigneo Advisory Services LLC now owns 3,543 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $223,000 after purchasing an additional 165 shares in the last quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers boosted its position in shares of Equity Residential by 0.3% during the 1st quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers now owns 61,177 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $3,619,000 after acquiring an additional 171 shares in the last quarter. Rosenberg Matthew Hamilton increased its stake in Equity Residential by 69.2% in the fourth quarter. Rosenberg Matthew Hamilton now owns 440 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $28,000 after acquiring an additional 180 shares during the period. Finally, Leonteq Securities AG increased its stake in Equity Residential by 48.8% in the first quarter. Leonteq Securities AG now owns 549 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $32,000 after acquiring an additional 180 shares during the period. 92.68% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.