Equity Residential (NYSE:EQR) Given Consensus Recommendation of "Hold" by Brokerages

Equity Residential (NYSE:EQR - Get Free Report) has earned an average recommendation of "Hold" from the nineteen analysts that are presently covering the firm, Marketbeat Ratings reports. Twelve analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the company. The average 12 month target price among analysts that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $75.97.

EQR has been the topic of several research reports. Evercore ISI lifted their price objective on shares of Equity Residential from $75.00 to $76.00 and gave the company an "in-line" rating in a report on Monday, September 16th. Scotiabank upped their price objective on Equity Residential from $77.00 to $81.00 and gave the stock a "sector perform" rating in a research note on Monday, September 16th. Wedbush lifted their target price on Equity Residential from $68.00 to $75.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Monday, August 5th. BNP Paribas started coverage on shares of Equity Residential in a report on Wednesday, September 11th. They issued an "outperform" rating and a $83.00 target price for the company. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada raised their price target on shares of Equity Residential from $74.00 to $75.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Wednesday, July 31st.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Equity Residential

Several institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Principal Financial Group Inc. raised its holdings in Equity Residential by 482.3% in the 2nd quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 7,153,749 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $496,040,000 after purchasing an additional 5,925,177 shares during the period. National Bank of Canada FI increased its holdings in Equity Residential by 679.0% in the 2nd quarter. National Bank of Canada FI now owns 594,774 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $40,528,000 after acquiring an additional 518,424 shares in the last quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Holdings Inc. raised its position in Equity Residential by 39.6% during the second quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Holdings Inc. now owns 1,676,445 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $116,245,000 after acquiring an additional 475,124 shares during the period. Sei Investments Co. raised its position in Equity Residential by 77.5% during the first quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 1,061,862 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $67,014,000 after acquiring an additional 463,664 shares during the period. Finally, SG Americas Securities LLC lifted its holdings in Equity Residential by 793.8% during the first quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 444,791 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $28,071,000 after purchasing an additional 395,029 shares in the last quarter. 92.68% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Equity Residential Trading Down 1.8 %

Shares of EQR traded down $1.39 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $74.67. The stock had a trading volume of 1,056,464 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,858,922. Equity Residential has a 1 year low of $52.57 and a 1 year high of $78.83. The stock's 50 day moving average is $74.61 and its 200 day moving average is $69.60. The firm has a market cap of $28.34 billion, a PE ratio of 31.05, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 6.05 and a beta of 0.89. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.64, a current ratio of 0.21 and a quick ratio of 0.21.

Equity Residential (NYSE:EQR - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Monday, July 29th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.47 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $0.96 by ($0.49). Equity Residential had a net margin of 32.83% and a return on equity of 8.53%. The business had revenue of $734.20 million for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $735.26 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $0.94 EPS. Equity Residential's revenue was up 2.4% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts forecast that Equity Residential will post 3.89 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Equity Residential Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, October 11th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, September 24th were paid a $0.675 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, September 24th. This represents a $2.70 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.62%. Equity Residential's payout ratio is 112.03%.

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.