Scotiabank Lowers Equity Residential (NYSE:EQR) Price Target to $78.00

Equity Residential (NYSE:EQR - Free Report) had its price target decreased by Scotiabank from $82.00 to $78.00 in a research note issued to investors on Friday,Benzinga reports. Scotiabank currently has a sector perform rating on the real estate investment trust's stock.

Other equities analysts have also recently issued reports about the stock. Truist Financial boosted their target price on shares of Equity Residential from $76.00 to $78.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Monday, March 10th. Barclays lifted their price target on shares of Equity Residential from $79.00 to $83.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Friday, May 9th. Stifel Nicolaus decreased their price target 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. Mizuho decreased their price target on shares of Equity Residential from $76.00 to $71.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a report on Friday, May 23rd. Finally, Wedbush reissued a "neutral" rating and set a $75.00 target price on shares of Equity Residential in a report on Wednesday, May 28th. Nine equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $79.25.

Equity Residential Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE EQR traded down $1.40 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $68.77. 1,586,511 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,719,274. The company's 50-day simple moving average is $68.91 and its 200-day simple moving average is $70.24. The company has a quick ratio of 0.36, a current ratio of 0.36 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.72. The stock has a market capitalization of $26.13 billion, a P/E ratio of 25.28, a P/E/G ratio of 3.99 and a beta of 0.90. Equity Residential has a twelve month low of $59.41 and a twelve month high of $78.84.

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

Equity Residential Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, July 11th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, June 24th will be issued a dividend of $0.6925 per share. This represents a $2.77 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.03%. Equity Residential's payout ratio is 105.73%.

Institutional Trading of Equity Residential

Several institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Nicola Wealth Management LTD. grew its stake in shares of Equity Residential by 33.1% in the 1st quarter. Nicola Wealth Management LTD. now owns 33,528 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $2,400,000 after acquiring an additional 8,330 shares in the last quarter. Inspire Investing LLC grew its stake in shares of Equity Residential by 4.6% in the 1st quarter. Inspire Investing LLC now owns 39,664 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $2,839,000 after acquiring an additional 1,749 shares in the last quarter. Strs Ohio bought a new stake in shares of Equity Residential in the 1st quarter worth $17,701,000. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC grew its stake in shares of Equity Residential by 4.4% in the 1st quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC now owns 4,696,175 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $336,152,000 after acquiring an additional 198,344 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Empowered Funds LLC grew its stake in shares of Equity Residential by 3.1% in the 1st quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 7,489 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $536,000 after acquiring an additional 226 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 92.68% of the company's stock.

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.