Jefferies Financial Group Issues Pessimistic Forecast for Equity Residential (NYSE:EQR) Stock Price

Key Points

• Jefferies cut its price target on Equity Residential to $64 (from $65) and maintained a "hold" rating, implying only about a 4.4% upside from the current share price.
• Equity Residential slightly missed Q4 estimates (EPS $1.03 vs. $1.04 expected; revenue $781.9M vs. $786.4M) and set guidance of Q1 2026 EPS 0.94–0.98 and FY2026 EPS 4.02–4.14.
• Insiders sold 10,058 shares (~$655,078) over the last quarter and now own just 1% of the company, while institutional investors hold roughly 92.7% of the stock.

Equity Residential (NYSE:EQR - Get Free Report) had its price objective lowered by analysts at Jefferies Financial Group from $65.00 to $64.00 in a note issued to investors on Tuesday,MarketScreener reports. The firm currently has a "hold" rating on the real estate investment trust's stock. Jefferies Financial Group's price objective points to a potential upside of 4.39% from the stock's current price.

Other analysts have also recently issued research reports about the stock. Evercore dropped their target price on shares of Equity Residential from $70.00 to $67.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research report on Monday, April 6th. Argus set a $70.00 price objective on Equity Residential in a research note on Thursday, March 12th. Wall Street Zen upgraded Equity Residential from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Saturday, March 28th. Barclays cut their target price on Equity Residential from $78.00 to $75.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, March 6th. Finally, Scotiabank boosted their target price on Equity Residential from $66.00 to $67.00 and gave the stock a "sector perform" rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 4th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seven have issued a Buy rating and twelve have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $69.48.

Equity Residential Stock Performance

EQR stock opened at $61.31 on Tuesday. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $61.56 and a 200 day moving average price of $61.52. Equity Residential has a fifty-two week low of $57.57 and a fifty-two week high of $72.40. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.73, a current ratio of 0.31 and a quick ratio of 0.31. The stock has a market capitalization of $23.15 billion, a PE ratio of 20.99, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.59 and a beta of 0.73.

Equity Residential (NYSE:EQR - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Thursday, February 5th. The real estate investment trust reported $1.03 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.04 by ($0.01). Equity Residential had a net margin of 36.20% and a return on equity of 9.98%. The firm had revenue of $781.91 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $786.35 million. During the same period last year, the business posted $1.00 earnings per share. The firm's quarterly revenue was up 2.0% on a year-over-year basis. Equity Residential has set its Q1 2026 guidance at 0.940-0.980 EPS and its FY 2026 guidance at 4.020-4.140 EPS. Analysts forecast that Equity Residential will post 3.98 EPS for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, EVP Catherine Carraway sold 656 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $65.13, for a total transaction of $42,725.28. Following the sale, the executive vice president owned 18,339 shares in the company, valued at $1,194,419.07. This represents a 3.45% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, EVP Robert Garechana sold 3,637 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $65.13, for a total transaction of $236,877.81. Following the transaction, the executive vice president owned 18,740 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,220,536.20. The trade was a 16.25% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 10,058 shares of company stock worth $655,078. Corporate insiders own 1.00% of the company's stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Equity Residential

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in EQR. Insigneo Advisory Services LLC increased its position in Equity Residential by 4.9% during the 4th quarter. Insigneo Advisory Services LLC now owns 3,543 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $223,000 after buying an additional 165 shares during the period. Rosenberg Matthew Hamilton grew its stake in shares of Equity Residential by 69.2% in the fourth quarter. Rosenberg Matthew Hamilton now owns 440 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $28,000 after acquiring an additional 180 shares in the last quarter. CX Institutional grew its stake in shares of Equity Residential by 6.1% in the third quarter. CX Institutional now owns 3,274 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $212,000 after acquiring an additional 189 shares in the last quarter. Summitry LLC increased its position in Equity Residential by 6.3% during the third quarter. Summitry LLC now owns 3,193 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $207,000 after acquiring an additional 189 shares during the period. Finally, Louisiana State Employees Retirement System increased its position in Equity Residential by 1.1% during the third quarter. Louisiana State Employees Retirement System now owns 18,200 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $1,178,000 after acquiring an additional 200 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.68% of the company's stock.

About Equity Residential

Equity Residential NYSE: EQR is a publicly traded real estate investment trust that acquires, develops, owns and operates rental apartment properties. Headquartered in Chicago, the company focuses on delivering professionally managed, market-rate apartment homes and related services to renters. Its operations cover a range of property types, including high-rise and mid-rise assets, with amenities and on-site management designed to support resident retention and occupancy.

The company's core activities include property acquisitions, development and redevelopment, leasing, and day-to-day property management.

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