Equity Residential (NYSE:EQR) Stock Rating Upgraded by Evercore ISI

Evercore ISI upgraded shares of Equity Residential (NYSE:EQR - Free Report) from an in-line rating to an outperform rating in a research report report published on Monday, Marketbeat reports. Evercore ISI currently has $75.00 target price on the real estate investment trust's stock, up from their previous target price of $74.00.

Other equities research analysts have also issued research reports about the stock. Truist Financial lifted their target price on shares of Equity Residential from $76.00 to $78.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Monday, March 10th. Mizuho cut 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. Scotiabank cut their target price on shares of Equity Residential from $82.00 to $78.00 and set a "sector perform" rating for the company in a research report on Friday, June 13th. Stifel Nicolaus dropped their price objective on shares of Equity Residential from $82.25 to $80.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, April 30th. Finally, Barclays boosted their price objective on shares of Equity Residential from $79.00 to $83.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Friday, May 9th. Eight analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Equity Residential currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $79.19.

Equity Residential Price Performance

Shares of NYSE EQR traded down $0.09 during mid-day trading on Monday, reaching $66.63. 1,763,600 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,765,157. Equity Residential has a fifty-two week low of $59.41 and a fifty-two week high of $78.84. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.70, a current ratio of 0.20 and a quick ratio of 0.20. The firm has a market cap of $25.32 billion, a PE ratio of 25.43, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.89 and a beta of 0.88. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $69.05 and a 200-day simple moving average of $69.57.

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

Equity Residential Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, July 11th. Investors of record on Tuesday, June 24th will be given a dividend of $0.6925 per share. This represents a $2.77 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.16%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, June 24th. Equity Residential's dividend payout ratio is 105.73%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Equity Residential

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Norges Bank bought a new position in Equity Residential during the fourth quarter worth $2,493,426,000. Nuveen LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Equity Residential in the first quarter valued at about $165,442,000. Northern Trust Corp raised its holdings in shares of Equity Residential by 53.1% in the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 6,476,004 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $464,718,000 after purchasing an additional 2,246,555 shares during the last quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD increased its holdings in Equity Residential by 5.6% during the first quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 20,711,588 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $1,482,537,000 after buying an additional 1,101,027 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Invesco Ltd. increased its holdings in Equity Residential by 12.0% during the fourth quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 6,522,442 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $468,050,000 after buying an additional 696,343 shares during the last quarter. 92.68% of the stock is currently 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.