Equity Residential (NYSE:EQR) Price Target Lowered to $79.00 at Royal Bank of Canada

Equity Residential (NYSE:EQR - Free Report) had its price target cut by Royal Bank of Canada from $83.00 to $79.00 in a research report released on Friday, Benzinga reports. They currently have an outperform rating on the real estate investment trust's stock.

Several other equities analysts also recently commented on the stock. Piper Sandler upped their price objective on shares of Equity Residential from $80.00 to $85.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 31st. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised Equity Residential from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and raised their price target for the stock from $62.00 to $83.00 in a research note on Tuesday, September 10th. Scotiabank boosted their price objective on shares of Equity Residential from $77.00 to $81.00 and gave the company a "sector perform" rating in a research report on Monday, September 16th. BNP Paribas assumed coverage on shares of Equity Residential in a research report on Wednesday, September 11th. They issued an "outperform" rating and a $83.00 target price for the company. Finally, UBS Group boosted their price target on shares of Equity Residential from $75.00 to $82.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 18th. Twelve research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $76.19.

Equity Residential Price Performance

Shares of Equity Residential stock traded down $1.25 on Friday, hitting $69.12. 2,332,784 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,864,867. Equity Residential has a 12-month low of $53.28 and a 12-month high of $78.83. The firm's 50-day simple moving average is $74.78 and its 200 day simple moving average is $69.96. The company has a market cap of $26.21 billion, a P/E ratio of 28.33, a P/E/G ratio of 6.16 and a beta of 0.89. The company has a current ratio of 0.21, a quick ratio of 0.21 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.64.

Equity Residential (NYSE:EQR - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Monday, July 29th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.47 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.96 by ($0.49). The firm had revenue of $734.20 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $735.26 million. Equity Residential had a return on equity of 8.27% and a net margin of 31.57%. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 2.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm earned $0.94 EPS. Analysts expect that Equity Residential will post 3.89 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Equity Residential Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, October 11th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, September 24th were issued a dividend of $0.675 per share. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, September 24th. This represents a $2.70 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.91%. Equity Residential's payout ratio is 110.66%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of EQR. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD increased its holdings in Equity Residential by 1.9% during the first 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 last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. increased its stake in shares of Equity Residential by 8.3% in the 3rd quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 7,745,615 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $576,737,000 after purchasing an additional 591,866 shares in the last quarter. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board raised its holdings in Equity Residential by 1.2% in the 2nd quarter. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board now owns 5,001,360 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $346,794,000 after purchasing an additional 60,000 shares during the period. Boston Partners lifted its position in Equity Residential by 4.3% during the first quarter. Boston Partners now owns 2,715,151 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $171,368,000 after purchasing an additional 112,270 shares in the last quarter. Finally, American Century Companies Inc. grew its holdings in Equity Residential by 20.7% during the second quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 2,180,190 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $151,174,000 after purchasing an additional 373,229 shares during the period. Institutional investors 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.