Equity Residential (NYSE:EQR) Price Target Raised to $64.00

Equity Residential (NYSE:EQR) had its price target hoisted by Wells Fargo & Company from $62.00 to $64.00 in a report released on Thursday, MarketBeat Ratings reports. The firm currently has an equal weight rating on the real estate investment trust’s stock.

A number of other analysts also recently commented on the stock. UBS Group increased their price objective on shares of Equity Residential from $68.00 to $71.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, January 8th. BMO Capital Markets downgraded shares of Equity Residential from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating and cut their price objective for the company from $70.00 to $68.00 in a report on Friday, January 9th. Barclays cut their price objective on shares of Equity Residential from $78.00 to $75.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Friday, March 6th. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Equity Residential in a report on Tuesday. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group cut their price objective on shares of Equity Residential from $71.00 to $69.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, April 16th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seven have given a Buy rating and twelve have issued a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $69.48.

Equity Residential Stock Down 0.6%

EQR stock opened at $62.26 on Thursday. The company has a market cap of $23.33 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.25, a PEG ratio of 4.75 and a beta of 0.73. The company has a current ratio of 0.31, a quick ratio of 0.31 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.73. Equity Residential has a 12 month low of $57.57 and a 12 month high of $72.40. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $61.28 and a two-hundred day moving average of $61.46.

Equity Residential (NYSE:EQR) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 5th. The real estate investment trust reported $1.03 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.04 by ($0.01). The business had revenue of $781.91 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $786.35 million. Equity Residential had a net margin of 36.20% and a return on equity of 9.98%. The firm’s revenue was up 2.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $1.00 EPS. 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. As a group, analysts forecast that Equity Residential will post 4.07 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Equity Residential Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, April 10th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 30th were issued a dividend of $0.7025 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, March 30th. This represents a $2.81 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.5%. This is an increase from Equity Residential’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.69. Equity Residential’s payout ratio is 95.90%.

Insider Transactions at Equity Residential

In other news, COO Michael L. Manelis sold 5,765 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $65.13, for a total transaction of $375,474.45. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer owned 46,131 shares in the company, valued at $3,004,512.03. This trade represents a 11.11% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, EVP Robert Garechana sold 3,637 shares of the firm’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 $236,877.81. Following the sale, the executive vice president owned 18,740 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,220,536.20. This represents a 16.25% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders sold 10,058 shares of company stock worth $655,078 in the last 90 days. Insiders own 1.10% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Equity Residential

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in EQR. USS Investment Management Ltd boosted its position in Equity Residential by 12.3% in the 1st quarter. USS Investment Management Ltd now owns 99,004 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $5,858,000 after buying an additional 10,834 shares during the period. IFM Investors Pty Ltd boosted its position in Equity Residential by 1.1% in the 1st quarter. IFM Investors Pty Ltd now owns 132,324 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $7,827,000 after buying an additional 1,377 shares during the period. Premier Path Wealth Partners LLC purchased a new position in Equity Residential in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $277,000. Inspire Investing LLC boosted its position in Equity Residential by 3.8% in the 1st quarter. Inspire Investing LLC now owns 45,694 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $2,703,000 after buying an additional 1,657 shares during the period. Finally, Patton Fund Management Inc. boosted its position in Equity Residential by 9.7% in the 1st quarter. Patton Fund Management Inc. now owns 3,933 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $233,000 after buying an additional 349 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.68% of the company’s stock.

Equity Residential Company Profile

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.