Equity Residential (NYSE:EQR) Downgraded by Wall Street Zen to "Sell"

Key Points

• Wall Street Zen downgraded Equity Residential from "hold" to "sell", though the broader analyst picture is mixed — MarketBeat shows a consensus "Hold" with an average price target of $69.76 and several firms recently raising targets or issuing upgrades.
• Equity Residential missed quarterly expectations, reporting $0.24 EPS vs. $0.33 expected and slightly lower revenue, while providing FY2026 guidance of $4.02–$4.14 EPS (street estimate ~4.09).
• The stock trades near $65 with a market cap of about $24.5B and a 1‑year range of $57.57–$72.40; insiders have sold shares recently and institutional investors own roughly 92.7% of the company.

Equity Residential (NYSE:EQR - Get Free Report) was downgraded by equities research analysts at Wall Street Zen from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a research note issued on Saturday.

EQR has been the subject of a number of other research reports. BNP Paribas Exane lifted their price objective on Equity Residential from $66.00 to $68.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 3rd. Piper Sandler set a $78.00 price objective on Equity Residential in a research note on Tuesday, January 27th. Barclays lifted their price objective on Equity Residential from $75.00 to $76.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Monday. Scotiabank lifted their price objective on Equity Residential from $66.00 to $67.00 and gave the company a "sector perform" rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 4th. Finally, Morgan Stanley upgraded Equity Residential from an "equal weight" rating to an "overweight" rating and lifted their price objective for the company from $72.00 to $74.00 in a research note on Thursday, March 26th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seven have issued a Buy rating and twelve have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $69.76.

Equity Residential Stock Performance

Shares of EQR stock opened at $65.27 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $24.45 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.11, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.94 and a beta of 0.76. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.77, a current ratio of 0.18 and a quick ratio of 0.31. The business has a fifty day moving average of $61.37 and a 200 day moving average of $61.53. Equity Residential has a 1 year low of $57.57 and a 1 year high of $72.40.

Equity Residential (NYSE:EQR - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, April 28th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.24 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $0.33 by ($0.09). The firm had revenue of $779.85 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $781.79 million. Equity Residential had a return on equity of 8.57% and a net margin of 30.63%.The business's revenue was up 2.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $0.95 EPS. Equity Residential has set its FY 2026 guidance at 4.020-4.140 EPS and its Q2 2026 guidance at 0.980-1.020 EPS. As a group, research analysts expect that Equity Residential will post 4.09 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Activity

In other news, EVP Robert Garechana sold 3,637 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $65.13, for a total transaction of $236,877.81. Following the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 18,740 shares in the company, valued at $1,220,536.20. This trade represents a 16.25% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, EVP Catherine Carraway sold 656 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $65.13, for a total value of $42,725.28. Following the sale, the executive vice president owned 18,339 shares in the company, valued at $1,194,419.07. This trade represents a 3.45% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders have sold 10,058 shares of company stock worth $655,078 in the last ninety days. Company insiders own 1.10% of the company's stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Equity Residential

A number of institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its position in shares of Equity Residential by 2.3% during the 3rd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 57,597,658 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $3,728,296,000 after acquiring an additional 1,281,354 shares during the period. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Equity Residential during the 4th quarter valued at about $2,201,674,000. State Street Corp grew its position in shares of Equity Residential by 2.8% during the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 24,922,935 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $1,630,103,000 after acquiring an additional 688,854 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its position in shares of Equity Residential by 1.1% during the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 10,258,275 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $644,412,000 after acquiring an additional 114,604 shares during the period. Finally, First Eagle Investment Management LLC grew its position in shares of Equity Residential by 0.5% during the 4th quarter. First Eagle Investment Management LLC now owns 9,242,013 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $582,617,000 after acquiring an additional 44,127 shares during the period. 92.68% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Equity Residential Company Profile

Equity Residential NYSE: EQR is a publicly traded real estate investment trust that acquires, develops, owns and operates rental apartment properties. Headquartered in Chicago, the company focuses on delivering professionally managed, market-rate apartment homes and related services to renters. Its operations cover a range of property types, including high-rise and mid-rise assets, with amenities and on-site management designed to support resident retention and occupancy.

The company's core activities include property acquisitions, development and redevelopment, leasing, and day-to-day property management.

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