Equity Residential (NYSE:EQR) Upgraded at Wall Street Zen

Equity Residential (NYSE:EQR) was upgraded by equities research analysts at Wall Street Zen from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report issued to clients and investors on Saturday.

Other analysts have also issued reports about the company. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their target price on Equity Residential from $69.00 to $71.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 12th. Stifel Nicolaus set a $78.50 price objective on Equity Residential in a research note on Friday, February 6th. Weiss Ratings reissued a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Equity Residential in a research note on Thursday, January 22nd. Barclays decreased their target price on shares of Equity Residential from $78.00 to $75.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, March 6th. Finally, Piper Sandler set a $78.00 price target on shares of Equity Residential in a research report on Tuesday, January 27th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seven have given a Buy rating and twelve have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $69.73.

Equity Residential Stock Down 1.3%

Shares of NYSE EQR opened at $58.75 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.31, a current ratio of 0.31 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.73. The firm has a market cap of $22.18 billion, a PE ratio of 20.05, a P/E/G ratio of 4.49 and a beta of 0.75. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $61.91 and its 200 day simple moving average is $62.00. Equity Residential has a 12-month low of $57.57 and a 12-month high of $72.40.

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 the consensus estimate of $1.04 by ($0.01). The company had revenue of $781.91 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $786.35 million. Equity Residential had a net margin of 36.20% and a return on equity of 9.98%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 2.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm posted $1.00 earnings per share. 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, sell-side analysts forecast that Equity Residential will post 3.98 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, EVP Catherine Carraway sold 656 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $65.13, for a total value of $42,725.28. Following the completion of 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. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, EVP Robert Garechana sold 3,637 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $65.13, for a total transaction of $236,877.81. Following the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 18,740 shares in the company, valued at $1,220,536.20. The trade was a 16.25% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders have sold 10,058 shares of company stock valued at $655,078 in the last three months. 1.10% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Equity Residential

A number of institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Insigneo Advisory Services LLC lifted its position in shares of Equity Residential by 4.9% during the 4th quarter. Insigneo Advisory Services LLC now owns 3,543 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $223,000 after buying an additional 165 shares in the last quarter. Rosenberg Matthew Hamilton boosted its stake in shares of Equity Residential by 69.2% in the 4th quarter. Rosenberg Matthew Hamilton now owns 440 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $28,000 after buying an additional 180 shares during the last quarter. CX Institutional grew its holdings in shares of Equity Residential by 6.1% in the third quarter. CX Institutional now owns 3,274 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $212,000 after acquiring an additional 189 shares in the last quarter. Summitry LLC increased its position in shares of Equity Residential by 6.3% during the third quarter. Summitry LLC now owns 3,193 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $207,000 after acquiring an additional 189 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Louisiana State Employees Retirement System increased its position in shares of Equity Residential by 1.1% during the third quarter. Louisiana State Employees Retirement System now owns 18,200 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $1,178,000 after acquiring an additional 200 shares during the last quarter. 92.68% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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.