Equity Residential (NYSE:EQR) Given a $80.50 Price Target at Stifel Nicolaus

Key Points

• Stifel Nicolaus has raised its price target for Equity Residential (NYSE:EQR) from $80.00 to $80.50, indicating a potential upside of 28.41% from the previous close.
• Equity Residential reported earnings of $0.99 per share for the last quarter, meeting analyst expectations, with a revenue increase of 4.7% year-over-year.
• The stock has received mixed ratings from analysts, with eight holding a buy rating and eight rating it as hold, resulting in an overall average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a target price of $78.43.

Equity Residential (NYSE:EQR - Get Free Report) has been given a $80.50 target price by equities research analysts at Stifel Nicolaus in a research note issued to investors on Tuesday, Marketbeat reports. The firm presently has a "buy" rating on the real estate investment trust's stock. Stifel Nicolaus' price objective suggests a potential upside of 26.81% from the stock's previous close.

Several other equities research analysts have also recently issued reports on EQR. UBS Group decreased their price objective on Equity Residential from $84.00 to $76.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, July 15th. Evercore ISI upgraded Equity Residential from an "in-line" rating to an "outperform" rating and raised their price objective for the stock from $74.00 to $75.00 in a report on Monday, July 7th. Wedbush restated a "neutral" rating and set a $75.00 price objective on shares of Equity Residential in a report on Wednesday, May 28th. Mizuho reduced their target price on Equity Residential from $76.00 to $71.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a report on Friday, May 23rd. Finally, Scotiabank reduced their target price on Equity Residential from $82.00 to $78.00 and set a "sector perform" rating on the stock in a report on Friday, June 13th. Eight research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $78.43.

Equity Residential Stock Performance

NYSE EQR opened at $63.48 on Tuesday. Equity Residential has a fifty-two week low of $59.41 and a fifty-two week high of $78.83. The stock has a market cap of $24.12 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.95, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.24 and a beta of 0.92. The business has a fifty day moving average of $67.49 and a 200-day moving average of $69.01. The company has a quick ratio of 0.20, a current ratio of 0.20 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.70.

Equity Residential (NYSE:EQR - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Monday, August 4th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.99 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of $0.99. Equity Residential had a net margin of 33.22% and a return on equity of 9.06%. The company had revenue of $768.83 million for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $770.60 million. During the same period last year, the company earned $0.97 EPS. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 4.7% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts predict that Equity Residential will post 3.98 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Trading of Equity Residential

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. CVA Family Office LLC raised its stake in shares of Equity Residential by 425.3% during the 2nd quarter. CVA Family Office LLC now owns 415 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $28,000 after purchasing an additional 336 shares in the last quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc increased its stake in shares of 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 buying an additional 157 shares during the period. GKV Capital Management Co. Inc. acquired a new stake in Equity Residential during the first quarter worth approximately $37,000. FNY Investment Advisers LLC grew its stake in Equity Residential by 1,000.0% in the second quarter. FNY Investment Advisers LLC now owns 660 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $44,000 after acquiring an additional 600 shares during the period. Finally, Keystone Global Partners LLC acquired a new stake in Equity Residential in the first quarter valued at approximately $47,000. 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.