Equity Residential (NYSE:EQR) Stock Price Expected to Rise, Barclays Analyst Says

Equity Residential (NYSE:EQR - Free Report) had its price objective raised by Barclays from $79.00 to $83.00 in a research note released on Friday morning,Benzinga reports. Barclays currently has an overweight rating on the real estate investment trust's stock.

Several other brokerages also recently weighed in on EQR. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their target price on Equity Residential from $77.00 to $75.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, January 24th. Scotiabank boosted their target price on Equity Residential from $78.00 to $79.00 and gave the stock a "sector perform" rating in a research note on Friday, February 14th. Evercore ISI boosted their target price on Equity Residential from $74.00 to $76.00 and gave the stock an "in-line" rating in a research note on Monday, February 10th. Stifel Nicolaus dropped their target price on Equity Residential from $82.25 to $80.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, April 30th. Finally, Truist Financial boosted their target price on Equity Residential from $76.00 to $78.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Monday, March 10th. Ten equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $78.94.

Equity Residential Stock Up 0.4%

Shares of NYSE:EQR traded up $0.25 on Friday, reaching $69.93. The company had a trading volume of 1,134,969 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,706,889. Equity Residential has a 52-week low of $59.41 and a 52-week high of $78.84. The firm's 50 day simple moving average is $69.00 and its 200-day simple moving average is $70.95. The firm has a market capitalization of $26.57 billion, a PE ratio of 25.71, a PEG ratio of 3.99 and a beta of 0.89. The company has a current ratio of 0.36, a quick ratio of 0.36 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.72.

Equity Residential (NYSE:EQR - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 29th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.95 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.93 by $0.02. Equity Residential had a return on equity of 9.27% and a net margin of 34.76%. The business had revenue of $760.81 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $769.43 million. During the same period last year, the business posted $0.93 EPS. The business's revenue was up 4.1% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts expect that Equity Residential will post 3.98 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Equity Residential Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, April 17th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 31st were paid a $0.6925 dividend. This is an increase from Equity Residential's previous quarterly dividend of $0.68. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, March 31st. This represents a $2.77 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.96%. Equity Residential's dividend payout ratio is presently 105.73%.

Institutional Trading of Equity Residential

A number of hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank raised its holdings in Equity Residential by 119.8% in the 4th quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank now owns 483,753 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $34,714,000 after purchasing an additional 263,622 shares during the period. Vert Asset Management LLC raised its holdings in Equity Residential by 7.5% in the 4th quarter. Vert Asset Management LLC now owns 150,245 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $10,782,000 after purchasing an additional 10,472 shares during the period. Mission Wealth Management LP acquired a new position in Equity Residential in the 4th quarter worth about $321,000. Atomi Financial Group Inc. raised its holdings in Equity Residential by 8.3% in the 4th quarter. Atomi Financial Group Inc. now owns 3,707 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $266,000 after purchasing an additional 284 shares during the period. Finally, Keybank National Association OH raised its holdings in Equity Residential by 2.0% in the 4th quarter. Keybank National Association OH now owns 7,001 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $502,000 after purchasing an additional 139 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.68% of the company's stock.

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.