Wall Street Zen Downgrades Equity Residential (NYSE:EQR) to Sell

Key Points

• Wall Street Zen downgraded Equity Residential (NYSE:EQR) from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating, signaling reduced confidence in the company's stock performance.
• Recent reports from other brokerages have lowered their price targets for Equity Residential, with Wells Fargo cutting its target from $75.00 to $68.00, reflecting a cautious outlook on the company's profitability.
• The stock's current consensus rating is a "Moderate Buy," with an average price target of $74.73, despite the recent downgrades from several analysts.

Equity Residential (NYSE:EQR - Get Free Report) was downgraded by investment analysts at Wall Street Zen from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a research report issued on Friday.

Several other brokerages also recently issued reports on EQR. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price objective on Equity Residential from $75.00 to $68.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, August 27th. Scotiabank cut their price target on Equity Residential from $78.00 to $77.00 and set a "sector perform" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, August 14th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price target on Equity Residential from $76.00 to $75.00 in a research note on Tuesday, September 16th. Stifel Nicolaus set a $80.50 price target on Equity Residential and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 5th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group cut their price target on Equity Residential from $72.00 to $70.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, September 17th. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and six have given a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $74.73.

Equity Residential Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:EQR traded up $0.81 on Friday, hitting $64.55. The company's stock had a trading volume of 2,124,475 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,928,712. Equity Residential has a 12 month low of $59.41 and a 12 month high of $78.32. The company has a market capitalization of $24.65 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.36, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.23 and a beta of 0.93. The stock's 50-day moving average is $65.06 and its two-hundred day moving average is $67.35. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.75, a quick ratio of 0.17 and a current ratio of 0.17.

Equity Residential (NYSE:EQR - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Monday, August 4th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.99 earnings per share for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate of $0.99. Equity Residential had a return on equity of 9.05% and a net margin of 33.22%.The business had revenue of $768.83 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $770.60 million. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $0.97 earnings per share. The company's quarterly revenue was up 4.7% on a year-over-year basis. Equity Residential has set its FY 2025 guidance at 3.970-4.030 EPS. Q3 2025 guidance at 0.990-1.030 EPS. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Equity Residential will post 3.98 EPS for the current year.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Equity Residential

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in EQR. CVA Family Office LLC grew its stake in shares of Equity Residential by 425.3% during the second 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 during the period. Versant Capital Management Inc grew its position 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 purchasing an additional 157 shares during the last quarter. GKV Capital Management Co. Inc. acquired a new stake in Equity Residential during the first quarter worth approximately $37,000. FNY Investment Advisers LLC lifted its stake in shares of Equity Residential by 1,000.0% in the 2nd 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 last quarter. Finally, Keystone Global Partners LLC bought a new position in shares of Equity Residential in the 1st quarter valued at $47,000. 92.68% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.

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