Equity Residential (NYSE:EQR) Receives $69.73 Average Target Price from Analysts

Equity Residential (NYSE:EQR) has been given a consensus rating of “Hold” by the twenty ratings firms that are covering the firm, Marketbeat reports. Twelve analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation, seven have given a buy recommendation and one has given a strong buy recommendation to the company. The average 12-month price target among analysts that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $69.7250.

Several research analysts have recently commented on the company. UBS Group lifted their price target on Equity Residential from $68.00 to $71.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, January 8th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft cut shares of Equity Residential from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $63.00 price objective for the company. in a research report on Tuesday, January 20th. Morgan Stanley raised shares of Equity Residential from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and lifted their target price for the stock from $72.00 to $74.00 in a research note on Thursday, March 26th. BMO Capital Markets lowered shares of Equity Residential from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating and decreased their target price for the company from $70.00 to $68.00 in a report on Friday, January 9th. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada dropped their price target on shares of Equity Residential from $70.00 to $68.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, January 15th.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, EVP Robert Garechana sold 3,637 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $65.13, for a total value of $236,877.81. Following the transaction, 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 sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, COO Michael L. Manelis sold 5,765 shares of the stock in a transaction 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 of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,004,512.03. This represents a 11.11% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Over the last three months, insiders sold 10,058 shares of company stock worth $655,078. Company insiders own 1.10% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Equity Residential

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of EQR. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its position in shares of Equity Residential by 2.3% during the 3rd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 57,597,658 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $3,728,296,000 after purchasing an additional 1,281,354 shares during the period. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in Equity Residential in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $2,201,674,000. State Street Corp raised its position in Equity Residential by 2.8% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 24,922,935 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $1,630,103,000 after purchasing an additional 688,854 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in Equity Residential by 1.1% during the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 10,258,275 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $644,412,000 after purchasing an additional 114,604 shares in the last quarter. Finally, First Eagle Investment Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Equity Residential by 0.5% during the fourth quarter. First Eagle Investment Management LLC now owns 9,242,013 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $582,617,000 after buying an additional 44,127 shares during the period. 92.68% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Equity Residential Price Performance

NYSE:EQR opened at $60.33 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. Equity Residential has a 52 week low of $57.57 and a 52 week high of $72.40. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $61.72 and its 200-day moving average price is $61.73. The stock has a market capitalization of $22.78 billion, a PE ratio of 20.59, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.55 and a beta of 0.73.

Equity Residential (NYSE:EQR) last released 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 during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $786.35 million. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $1.00 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter 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. As a group, equities analysts expect that Equity Residential will post 3.98 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Equity Residential Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, April 10th. Investors of record on Monday, March 30th will be issued a $0.7025 dividend. This is a boost from Equity Residential’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.69. This represents a $2.81 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.7%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 30th. Equity Residential’s payout ratio is currently 95.90%.

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.