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

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

A number of other equities research analysts have also commented on EQR. Stifel Nicolaus reduced their price target on Equity Residential from $82.25 to $80.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, April 30th. Mizuho reduced their price target on Equity Residential from $76.00 to $71.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, May 23rd. Scotiabank reduced their price target on 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. Barclays upped their target price on Equity Residential from $79.00 to $83.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Friday, May 9th. Finally, Wedbush restated a "neutral" rating and set a $75.00 target price on shares of Equity Residential in a research report on Wednesday, May 28th. Eight equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Equity Residential has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $79.19.

Equity Residential Price Performance

EQR stock traded down $0.21 during midday trading on Monday, reaching $66.67. 2,884,398 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,763,492. The stock has a market capitalization of $25.33 billion, a PE ratio of 25.45, a P/E/G ratio of 3.90 and a beta of 0.88. Equity Residential has a 52 week low of $59.41 and a 52 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 company has a fifty day moving average price of $69.10 and a 200 day moving average price of $69.60.

Equity Residential (NYSE:EQR - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 29th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.95 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.93 by $0.02. Equity Residential had a return on equity of 8.93% and a net margin of 33.11%. The business had revenue of $760.81 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $769.43 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $0.93 EPS. Equity Residential's quarterly revenue was up 4.1% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts expect 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. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, June 24th will be paid a $0.6925 dividend. This represents a $2.77 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.15%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, June 24th. Equity Residential's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 105.73%.

Institutional Trading of Equity Residential

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank lifted its stake in shares of Equity Residential by 119.8% during the 4th quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank now owns 483,753 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $34,714,000 after buying an additional 263,622 shares in the last quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Equity Residential by 6.3% in the first quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC now owns 3,246 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $232,000 after acquiring an additional 191 shares during the period. Keybank National Association OH boosted its holdings in shares of Equity Residential by 2.0% in the fourth quarter. Keybank National Association OH now owns 7,001 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $502,000 after acquiring an additional 139 shares during the period. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted its holdings in shares of Equity Residential by 3.3% in the fourth quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 4,210,383 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $302,137,000 after acquiring an additional 136,275 shares during the period. Finally, Starwood Capital Group Management L.L.C. lifted its holdings in Equity Residential by 26.2% during the 4th quarter. Starwood Capital Group Management L.L.C. now owns 339,338 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $24,351,000 after purchasing an additional 70,500 shares in the last quarter. 92.68% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.