Brokerages Set Equity Residential (NYSE:EQR) Price Target at $79.25

Equity Residential (NYSE:EQR - Get Free Report) has received a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" from the sixteen ratings firms that are covering the firm, MarketBeat.com reports. Eight analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the company. The average 12 month target price among analysts that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $79.25.

Several research analysts have issued reports on the company. Wedbush reaffirmed a "neutral" rating and issued a $75.00 price target on shares of Equity Residential in a report on Wednesday, May 28th. Stifel Nicolaus dropped their price target on Equity Residential from $82.25 to $80.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, April 30th. Barclays upped their price target on Equity Residential from $79.00 to $83.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Friday, May 9th. Scotiabank lowered their price objective on shares of Equity Residential from $82.00 to $78.00 and set a "sector perform" rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, June 13th. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada lifted their price objective on shares of Equity Residential from $75.00 to $76.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Thursday, May 1st.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Equity Residential

A number of large investors have recently modified their holdings of EQR. Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. lifted its position in shares of Equity Residential by 4.4% during the fourth quarter. Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. now owns 24,682 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $1,771,000 after purchasing an additional 1,048 shares in the last quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC acquired a new position in shares of Equity Residential during the fourth quarter worth approximately $5,778,000. US Bancorp DE lifted its position in shares of Equity Residential by 0.7% during the fourth quarter. US Bancorp DE now owns 31,433 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $2,256,000 after purchasing an additional 219 shares in the last quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Equity Residential by 38.8% during the fourth quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 558 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $40,000 after purchasing an additional 156 shares in the last quarter. Finally, SRS Capital Advisors Inc. lifted its position in shares of Equity Residential by 607.8% during the fourth quarter. SRS Capital Advisors Inc. now owns 361 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $26,000 after purchasing an additional 310 shares in the last quarter. 92.68% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Equity Residential Price Performance

NYSE:EQR traded down $0.36 during midday trading on Wednesday, hitting $66.31. 1,362,183 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,758,990. Equity Residential has a one year low of $59.41 and a one year high of $78.84. The company has a market capitalization of $25.19 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.31, a P/E/G ratio of 3.90 and a beta of 0.88. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $69.10 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $69.60. The company has a current ratio of 0.20, a quick ratio of 0.20 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.70.

Equity Residential (NYSE:EQR - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 29th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.95 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.93 by $0.02. The company had revenue of $760.81 million for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $769.43 million. Equity Residential had a return on equity of 8.93% and a net margin of 33.11%. The firm's revenue was up 4.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $0.93 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts predict that Equity Residential will post 3.98 EPS for the current year.

Equity Residential Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, July 11th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, June 24th will be paid a dividend of $0.6925 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, June 24th. This represents a $2.77 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.18%. Equity Residential's dividend payout ratio is 105.73%.

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.