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

Equity Residential (NYSE:EQR) was downgraded by Wall Street Zen from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report issued on Monday.

A number of other equities analysts also recently weighed in on the company. Evercore boosted their price target on Equity Residential from $69.00 to $70.00 in a research report on Monday, March 9th. BMO Capital Markets cut 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 research report on Friday, January 9th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft downgraded Equity Residential from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $63.00 target price for the company. in a research note on Tuesday, January 20th. Stifel Nicolaus set a $78.50 price target on Equity Residential in a research note on Friday, February 6th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Equity Residential in a report on Thursday, January 22nd. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, six have given a Buy rating and thirteen have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $69.70.

Equity Residential Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE EQR opened at $60.01 on Monday. The stock has a market capitalization of $22.66 billion, a PE ratio of 20.48, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.53 and a beta of 0.75. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.73, a quick ratio of 0.31 and a current ratio of 0.31. Equity Residential has a 52 week low of $58.38 and a 52 week high of $72.64. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $62.34 and a 200 day moving average price of $62.40.

Equity Residential (NYSE:EQR) last released its earnings results on Thursday, February 5th. The real estate investment trust reported $1.03 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.04 by ($0.01). Equity Residential had a net margin of 36.20% and a return on equity of 9.98%. The firm had revenue of $781.91 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $786.35 million. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $1.00 earnings per share. Equity Residential’s quarterly 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. Analysts predict that Equity Residential will post 3.98 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Transactions at Equity Residential

In other news, EVP Catherine Carraway sold 656 shares of the company’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 value of $42,725.28. Following the transaction, the executive vice president owned 18,339 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,194,419.07. This represents a 3.45% 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, COO Michael L. Manelis sold 5,765 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $65.13, for a total value of $375,474.45. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer owned 46,131 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,004,512.03. This trade represents a 11.11% decrease in their position. 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 quarter. Company insiders own 1.00% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its stake in shares of Equity Residential by 2.3% in the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 57,597,658 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $3,728,296,000 after acquiring an additional 1,281,354 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in Equity Residential in the 4th quarter worth about $2,201,674,000. State Street Corp raised its stake in Equity Residential by 2.8% in the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 24,922,935 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $1,630,103,000 after purchasing an additional 688,854 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in Equity Residential by 1.1% in the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 10,258,275 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $644,412,000 after purchasing an additional 114,604 shares during the period. Finally, First Eagle Investment Management LLC boosted its holdings in Equity Residential by 0.5% in the 4th quarter. First Eagle Investment Management LLC now owns 9,242,013 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $582,617,000 after purchasing an additional 44,127 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 92.68% of the company’s stock.

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.