Analysts Set Equity Residential (NYSE:EQR) PT at $79.50

Shares of Equity Residential (NYSE:EQR - Get Free Report) have been assigned a consensus recommendation of "Moderate Buy" from the sixteen brokerages that are currently covering the stock, MarketBeat Ratings reports. Eight analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the company. The average 1 year price objective among brokers that have covered the stock in the last year is $79.50.

EQR has been the topic of several recent research reports. Stifel Nicolaus cut their target price on Equity Residential from $82.25 to $80.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, April 30th. Wedbush reaffirmed a "neutral" rating and issued a $75.00 price objective on shares of Equity Residential in a research note on Wednesday, May 28th. Mizuho decreased their target price on shares of Equity Residential from $76.00 to $71.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research report on Friday, May 23rd. Evercore ISI raised their price target on shares of Equity Residential from $74.00 to $76.00 and gave the stock an "in-line" rating in a report on Monday, February 10th. Finally, Scotiabank upped their price objective on shares of Equity Residential from $79.00 to $82.00 and gave the company a "sector perform" rating in a research note on Monday, May 12th.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Equity Residential

Hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. SRS Capital Advisors Inc. raised its position in shares of Equity Residential by 607.8% during the 4th quarter. SRS Capital Advisors Inc. now owns 361 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $26,000 after buying an additional 310 shares in the last quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc increased its stake in Equity Residential by 51.6% in the first quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 461 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $33,000 after acquiring an additional 157 shares during the last quarter. GKV Capital Management Co. Inc. purchased a new stake in Equity Residential during the first quarter valued at about $37,000. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC lifted its stake in 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 during the last quarter. Finally, Steward Partners Investment Advisory LLC lifted its stake in Equity Residential by 109.5% during the fourth quarter. Steward Partners Investment Advisory LLC now owns 551 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $40,000 after purchasing an additional 288 shares during the last quarter. 92.68% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Equity Residential Stock Performance

EQR stock traded up $0.67 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $69.99. 1,257,560 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,714,381. Equity Residential has a 1-year low of $59.41 and a 1-year high of $78.84. The stock has a market capitalization of $26.59 billion, a PE ratio of 25.73, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.99 and a beta of 0.90. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $68.51 and a 200-day simple moving average of $70.40. 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 released its earnings results on Tuesday, April 29th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.95 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.93 by $0.02. The firm had revenue of $760.81 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $769.43 million. Equity Residential had a return on equity of 9.27% and a net margin of 34.76%. The company's revenue was up 4.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $0.93 EPS. On average, equities analysts forecast that Equity Residential will post 3.98 earnings per share for the current year.

Equity Residential Increases Dividend

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

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.