Mizuho Raises Equity Residential (NYSE:EQR) Price Target to $64.00

Equity Residential (NYSE:EQR) had its price objective boosted by Mizuho from $61.00 to $64.00 in a report released on Thursday, Benzinga reports. The firm currently has a neutral rating on the real estate investment trust’s stock.

A number of other equities analysts have also recently issued reports on the company. BMO Capital Markets upgraded Equity Residential from a market perform rating to an outperform rating and increased their target price for the stock from $68.00 to $70.00 in a report on Monday, April 22nd. Scotiabank raised their price objective on Equity Residential from $65.00 to $72.00 and gave the company a sector perform rating in a report on Tuesday, May 14th. The Goldman Sachs Group restated a buy rating and issued a $70.00 price objective on shares of Equity Residential in a report on Thursday, February 22nd. Wedbush restated a neutral rating and issued a $68.00 price objective on shares of Equity Residential in a report on Monday, April 29th. Finally, Piper Sandler raised their price objective on Equity Residential from $62.00 to $70.00 and gave the company a neutral rating in a report on Monday, April 29th. Twelve investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of Hold and an average price target of $68.41.

Equity Residential Price Performance

EQR opened at $65.03 on Thursday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.23, a current ratio of 0.23 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.64. Equity Residential has a 12 month low of $52.57 and a 12 month high of $69.45. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $64.11 and a 200 day simple moving average of $61.54. The stock has a market cap of $24.68 billion, a P/E ratio of 26.98, a P/E/G ratio of 3.71 and a beta of 0.82.

Equity Residential (NYSE:EQR) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, April 23rd. The real estate investment trust reported $0.93 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.91 by $0.02. The firm had revenue of $730.80 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $728.09 million. Equity Residential had a return on equity of 8.18% and a net margin of 31.70%. The company’s revenue was up 3.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $0.87 EPS. On average, research analysts expect that Equity Residential will post 3.9 EPS for the current year.

Equity Residential Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, April 12th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 25th were given a dividend of $0.675 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, March 22nd. This is an increase from Equity Residential’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.66. This represents a $2.70 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.15%. Equity Residential’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 112.03%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Equity Residential news, Director Mary Kay Haben sold 3,241 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, April 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $65.48, for a total transaction of $212,220.68. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 9,720 shares in the company, valued at $636,465.60. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. In other news, EVP Alexander Brackenridge sold 4,027 shares of Equity Residential stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, April 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $65.01, for a total value of $261,795.27. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 69,901 shares in the company, valued at $4,544,264.01. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, Director Mary Kay Haben sold 3,241 shares of Equity Residential stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, April 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $65.48, for a total transaction of $212,220.68. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 9,720 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $636,465.60. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 1.00% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Equity Residential

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Financial Gravity Asset Management Inc. raised its position in shares of Equity Residential by 593.9% in the third quarter. Financial Gravity Asset Management Inc. now owns 458 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $25,000 after buying an additional 392 shares in the last quarter. Fidelis Capital Partners LLC acquired a new position in Equity Residential during the first quarter valued at approximately $27,000. Bruce G. Allen Investments LLC bought a new stake in Equity Residential during the fourth quarter worth $28,000. Allworth Financial LP boosted its holdings in shares of Equity Residential by 120.8% in the 4th quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 488 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $30,000 after purchasing an additional 267 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Voisard Asset Management Group Inc. bought a new position in shares of Equity Residential in the 4th quarter valued at $33,000. 92.68% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.