Equity Residential (NYSE:EQR) Upgraded to Outperform at BMO Capital Markets

BMO Capital Markets upgraded shares of Equity Residential (NYSE:EQR) from a market perform rating to an outperform rating in a research note published on Monday morning, MarketBeat Ratings reports. The firm currently has $70.00 price target on the real estate investment trust’s stock, up from their previous price target of $68.00.

Other analysts have also issued research reports about the company. Morgan Stanley increased their target price on Equity Residential from $58.00 to $64.00 and gave the company an equal weight rating in a report on Monday, February 26th. Royal Bank of Canada increased their target price on Equity Residential from $65.00 to $66.00 and gave the company an outperform rating in a report on Thursday, February 1st. Mizuho dropped their price target on shares of Equity Residential from $62.00 to $61.00 and set a neutral rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, February 28th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft initiated coverage on shares of Equity Residential in a research note on Tuesday, January 30th. They issued a hold rating and a $64.00 price target on the stock. Finally, Truist Financial dropped their price target on shares of Equity Residential from $71.00 to $67.00 and set a buy rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, April 9th. Ten analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Equity Residential has a consensus rating of Hold and a consensus price target of $65.75.

Equity Residential Price Performance

EQR opened at $62.54 on Monday. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $61.58 and a 200-day moving average of $59.71. The firm has a market capitalization of $23.70 billion, a P/E ratio of 28.43, a PEG ratio of 3.57 and a beta of 0.84. Equity Residential has a 12-month low of $52.57 and a 12-month high of $69.45. The company has a quick ratio of 0.30, a current ratio of 0.30 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.66.

Equity Residential (NYSE:EQR) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, January 30th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.82 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.00 by ($0.18). The business had revenue of $727.50 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $725.07 million. Equity Residential had a net margin of 29.07% and a return on equity of 7.43%. Equity Residential’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $0.94 EPS. Equities analysts forecast that Equity Residential will post 3.86 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Equity Residential Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, April 12th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 25th were given a dividend of $0.675 per share. This represents a $2.70 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.32%. This is an increase from Equity Residential’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.66. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, March 22nd. Equity Residential’s dividend payout ratio is presently 122.73%.

Insider Activity

In other news, CAO Ian Kaufman sold 716 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $57.80, for a total value of $41,384.80. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 23,949 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,384,252.20. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. In other news, COO Michael L. Manelis sold 1,639 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $59.43, for a total value of $97,405.77. Following the sale, the chief operating officer now directly owns 31,053 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,845,479.79. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CAO Ian Kaufman sold 716 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $57.80, for a total value of $41,384.80. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 23,949 shares in the company, valued at $1,384,252.20. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 3,280 shares of company stock valued at $192,335. 1.00% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Equity Residential

Hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Equity Residential by 39.3% in the third quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 234,022 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $13,739,000 after buying an additional 65,982 shares during the period. Pallas Capital Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Equity Residential in the fourth quarter valued at about $1,110,000. Wellington Management Group LLP lifted its stake in shares of Equity Residential by 61.9% in the third quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 64,809 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $3,805,000 after buying an additional 24,787 shares during the period. Banque Cantonale Vaudoise lifted its stake in shares of Equity Residential by 128.7% in the third quarter. Banque Cantonale Vaudoise now owns 11,372 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $668,000 after buying an additional 6,400 shares during the period. Finally, Adage Capital Partners GP L.L.C. lifted its stake in shares of Equity Residential by 12.5% in the third quarter. Adage Capital Partners GP L.L.C. now owns 743,250 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $43,636,000 after buying an additional 82,773 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 92.68% of the company’s stock.

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.