Equity Residential (NYSE:EQR) Sets New 12-Month High Following Analyst Upgrade

Equity Residential (NYSE:EQR) hit a new 52-week high during mid-day trading on Monday after Truist Financial raised their price target on the stock from $67.00 to $73.00. Truist Financial currently has a buy rating on the stock. Equity Residential traded as high as $69.57 and last traded at $69.37, with a volume of 338630 shares traded. The stock had previously closed at $68.31.

EQR has been the subject of a number of other research reports. UBS Group increased their price target on Equity Residential from $73.00 to $75.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, May 14th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their target price on shares of Equity Residential from $66.00 to $68.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, June 17th. Evercore ISI lowered shares of Equity Residential from an “outperform” rating to an “in-line” rating and set a $70.00 price target on the stock. in a report on Monday, May 13th. BMO Capital Markets raised shares of Equity Residential from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and raised their price objective for the stock from $68.00 to $70.00 in a research note on Monday, April 22nd. Finally, Raymond James upgraded shares of Equity Residential from an “underperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research report on Monday, March 18th. Twelve equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $68.47.

Insider Activity

In related news, EVP Alexander Brackenridge sold 4,027 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, April 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $65.01, for a total value of $261,795.27. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 69,901 shares in the company, valued at $4,544,264.01. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. In other Equity Residential news, Director Mary Kay Haben sold 3,241 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, April 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $65.48, for a total value 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 sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, EVP Alexander Brackenridge sold 4,027 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, April 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $65.01, for a total value of $261,795.27. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 69,901 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,544,264.01. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 1.00% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Equity Residential

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in EQR. Financial Gravity Asset Management Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Equity Residential by 593.9% during the 3rd quarter. Financial Gravity Asset Management Inc. now owns 458 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $25,000 after buying an additional 392 shares during the period. Fidelis Capital Partners LLC bought a new stake in Equity Residential during the first quarter valued at about $27,000. Bruce G. Allen Investments LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Equity Residential in the fourth quarter valued at about $28,000. Allworth Financial LP increased its stake in shares of Equity Residential by 120.8% in the fourth quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 488 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $30,000 after purchasing an additional 267 shares during the period. Finally, Voisard Asset Management Group Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Equity Residential during the 4th quarter worth about $33,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.68% of the company’s stock.

Equity Residential Stock Performance

The stock has a market cap of $26.02 billion, a P/E ratio of 28.44, a P/E/G ratio of 3.92 and a beta of 0.85. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $65.69 and a two-hundred day moving average of $62.69. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.64, a quick ratio of 0.23 and a current ratio of 0.23.

Equity Residential (NYSE:EQR) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 23rd. The real estate investment trust reported $0.93 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.91 by $0.02. Equity Residential had a return on equity of 8.18% and a net margin of 31.70%. The company had revenue of $730.80 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $728.09 million. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $0.87 earnings per share. Equity Residential’s revenue for the quarter was up 3.6% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts predict that Equity Residential will post 3.88 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Equity Residential Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, July 12th. Stockholders of record on Monday, July 1st will be given a dividend of $0.675 per share. This represents a $2.70 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.94%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, July 1st. Equity Residential’s dividend payout ratio is currently 112.03%.

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.