Bank of America Downgrades Equity Residential (NYSE:EQR) to Neutral

Bank of America cut shares of Equity Residential (NYSE:EQR) from a buy rating to a neutral rating in a research note issued to investors on Tuesday, Marketbeat Ratings reports. They currently have $82.00 target price on the real estate investment trust’s stock, up from their previous target price of $78.00.

EQR has been the topic of several other research reports. Scotiabank upped their price target on Equity Residential from $77.00 to $81.00 and gave the company a sector perform rating in a report on Monday, September 16th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price on shares of Equity Residential from $68.00 to $80.00 and gave the company a neutral rating in a research note on Monday, September 16th. Truist Financial boosted their target price on shares of Equity Residential from $73.00 to $77.00 and gave the company a buy rating in a research note on Thursday, August 29th. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their target price on shares of Equity Residential from $74.00 to $75.00 and gave the company an outperform rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 31st. Finally, Mizuho boosted their target price on shares of Equity Residential from $61.00 to $64.00 and gave the company a neutral rating in a research note on Thursday, May 30th. Thirteen investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of Hold and a consensus target price of $75.97.

Equity Residential Price Performance

NYSE EQR opened at $73.97 on Tuesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $28.08 billion, a P/E ratio of 30.78, a P/E/G ratio of 5.60 and a beta of 0.89. Equity Residential has a 1 year low of $52.57 and a 1 year high of $78.83. The business’s fifty day moving average is $73.23 and its two-hundred day moving average is $67.97. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.64, a quick ratio of 0.21 and a current ratio of 0.21.

Equity Residential (NYSE:EQR) last posted 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 company had revenue of $734.20 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $735.26 million. Equity Residential had a net margin of 32.83% and a return on equity of 8.53%. Equity Residential’s quarterly revenue was up 2.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $0.94 EPS. On average, research analysts forecast that Equity Residential will post 3.89 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Equity Residential Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, October 11th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, September 24th will be given a dividend of $0.675 per share. This represents a $2.70 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.65%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, September 24th. Equity Residential’s payout ratio is 112.03%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Equity Residential

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Fidelis Capital Partners LLC bought a new stake in shares of Equity Residential in the first quarter valued at about $27,000. Voisard Asset Management Group Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Equity Residential in the fourth quarter valued at about $33,000. Massmutual Trust Co. FSB ADV lifted its stake in shares of Equity Residential by 41.9% in the second quarter. Massmutual Trust Co. FSB ADV now owns 525 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $36,000 after buying an additional 155 shares during the period. HHM Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its stake in shares of Equity Residential by 146.6% in the second quarter. HHM Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 550 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $38,000 after buying an additional 327 shares during the period. Finally, Richardson Financial Services Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Equity Residential in the first quarter valued at about $41,000. 92.68% of the stock is 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.