Equity Residential (NYSE:EQR) Given New $70.00 Price Target at Evercore

Equity Residential (NYSE:EQR) had its price target boosted by Evercore from $69.00 to $70.00 in a research note published on Monday,MarketScreener reports.

A number of other equities research analysts have also recently weighed in on the stock. Mizuho lifted their price target on shares of Equity Residential from $65.00 to $66.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday. Piper Sandler set a $78.00 price objective on shares of Equity Residential in a report on Tuesday, January 27th. The Goldman Sachs Group increased their price objective on shares of Equity Residential from $69.00 to $71.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 12th. Scotiabank lifted their target price on shares of Equity Residential from $66.00 to $67.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a report on Wednesday, March 4th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets lowered Equity Residential from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating and cut their target price for the company from $70.00 to $68.00 in a research report on Friday, January 9th. Six analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and thirteen have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $69.68.

Equity Residential Price Performance

NYSE:EQR opened at $62.24 on Monday. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $62.53 and a two-hundred day moving average of $62.53. Equity Residential has a 12 month low of $58.38 and a 12 month high of $73.14. The firm has a market cap of $23.50 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.24, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.72 and a beta of 0.75. 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 (NYSE:EQR) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 5th. The real estate investment trust reported $1.03 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.04 by ($0.01). Equity Residential had a return on equity of 9.98% and a net margin of 36.20%.The business had revenue of $781.91 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $786.35 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $1.00 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was up 2.0% compared to the same quarter last year. 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. On average, analysts expect that Equity Residential will post 3.98 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Equity Residential Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, January 16th. Shareholders of record on Friday, January 2nd were issued a dividend of $0.6925 per share. This represents a $2.77 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.5%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, January 2nd. Equity Residential’s payout ratio is 94.54%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Equity Residential 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 sale, the chief operating officer owned 46,131 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,004,512.03. This trade represents a 11.11% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, EVP Catherine Carraway sold 656 shares of Equity Residential stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $65.13, for a total transaction of $42,725.28. Following the sale, the executive vice president owned 18,339 shares in the company, valued at $1,194,419.07. This represents a 3.45% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders sold a total of 10,058 shares of company stock worth $655,078 over the last 90 days. 1.00% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of Equity Residential

Hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Norges Bank purchased a new position in shares of Equity Residential during the 4th quarter worth about $2,201,674,000. Cohen & Steers Inc. grew its holdings in Equity Residential by 227.7% in the fourth quarter. Cohen & Steers Inc. now owns 7,405,502 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $466,869,000 after purchasing an additional 5,145,442 shares during the period. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC grew its holdings in Equity Residential by 876.0% in the third quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC now owns 4,500,885 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $291,342,000 after purchasing an additional 4,039,752 shares during the period. Wellington Management Group LLP increased its position in Equity Residential by 797.2% during the third quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 2,085,406 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $134,988,000 after purchasing an additional 1,852,970 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Prudential Financial Inc. raised its stake in Equity Residential by 725.6% during the second quarter. Prudential Financial Inc. now owns 1,908,429 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $128,800,000 after purchasing an additional 1,677,278 shares during the period. 92.68% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

About Equity Residential

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.