Equity Residential (NYSE:EQR) Receives Consensus Recommendation of "Hold" from Analysts

Equity Residential (NYSE:EQR - Get Free Report) has earned an average recommendation of "Hold" from the nineteen analysts that are covering the firm, MarketBeat Ratings reports. Eleven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and eight have given a buy recommendation to the company. The average 12-month target price among analysts that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $77.25.

Several analysts recently issued reports on the stock. Stifel Nicolaus raised shares of Equity Residential from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and upped their price objective for the company from $77.75 to $81.50 in a research note on Wednesday, November 13th. Evercore ISI increased their price target on Equity Residential from $75.00 to $76.00 and gave the company an "in-line" rating in a report on Monday, September 16th. The Goldman Sachs Group initiated coverage on Equity Residential in a research note on Wednesday, September 4th. They set a "neutral" rating and a $81.00 price objective on the stock. Wedbush raised their target price on Equity Residential from $68.00 to $75.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Monday, August 5th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada lowered their price target on shares of Equity Residential from $83.00 to $79.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, November 1st.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Equity Residential

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. State Street Corp raised its stake in shares of Equity Residential by 1.4% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 23,922,127 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $1,796,976,000 after acquiring an additional 321,002 shares in the last quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD boosted its stake in shares of Equity Residential by 1.9% in the 1st quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 20,267,675 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $1,279,095,000 after buying an additional 381,236 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in Equity Residential by 1.4% in the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 9,353,944 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $694,441,000 after acquiring an additional 132,638 shares in the last quarter. FMR LLC raised its holdings in Equity Residential by 29.0% in the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 7,746,494 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $576,804,000 after acquiring an additional 1,741,840 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Principal Financial Group Inc. lifted its stake in Equity Residential by 8.3% in the third quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 7,745,615 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $576,737,000 after acquiring an additional 591,866 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.68% of the company's stock.

Equity Residential Price Performance

Shares of NYSE EQR traded up $0.08 during midday trading on Tuesday, hitting $74.50. The stock had a trading volume of 1,240,791 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,848,027. The company has a quick ratio of 0.13, a current ratio of 0.13 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.76. Equity Residential has a 1 year low of $54.70 and a 1 year high of $78.83. The company has a market capitalization of $28.27 billion, a PE ratio of 30.50, a P/E/G ratio of 5.98 and a beta of 0.90. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $74.31 and a 200-day simple moving average of $70.86.

Equity Residential Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, October 11th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, September 24th were paid a $0.675 dividend. This represents a $2.70 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.62%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, September 24th. Equity Residential's payout ratio is 110.66%.

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.