Equity Residential (NYSE:EQR) Raised to “Hold” at Jefferies Financial Group

Equity Residential (NYSE:EQR) was upgraded by equities researchers at Jefferies Financial Group to a “hold” rating in a research report issued on Wednesday,Zacks.com reports.

Several other research firms have also issued reports on EQR. Wells Fargo & Company increased their target price on Equity Residential from $62.00 to $64.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, April 23rd. Wolfe Research raised Equity Residential from a “hold” rating to an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, June 1st. Scotiabank upped their price objective on shares of Equity Residential from $67.00 to $70.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 9th. Morgan Stanley upgraded shares of Equity Residential from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and increased their price objective for the stock from $72.00 to $74.00 in a research note on Thursday, March 26th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus raised their target price on shares of Equity Residential from $78.25 to $79.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, May 27th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eight have assigned a Buy rating and fourteen have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Equity Residential presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $71.40.

Equity Residential Stock Up 0.2%

NYSE EQR opened at $68.41 on Wednesday. The company has a current ratio of 0.18, a quick ratio of 0.18 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.77. The company has a market cap of $25.65 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 29.74, a PEG ratio of 5.44 and a beta of 0.74. The company has a 50 day moving average of $67.23 and a 200-day moving average of $63.91. Equity Residential has a 1-year low of $57.57 and a 1-year high of $71.50.

Equity Residential (NYSE:EQR) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 28th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.24 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.33 by ($0.09). Equity Residential had a return on equity of 7.98% and a net margin of 27.97%.The company had revenue of $779.85 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $781.79 million. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $0.95 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 2.5% compared to the same quarter last year. Equity Residential has set its FY 2026 guidance at 4.020-4.140 EPS and its Q2 2026 guidance at 0.980-1.020 EPS. On average, equities research analysts expect that Equity Residential will post 4.08 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Trading of Equity Residential

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of EQR. Wolverine Asset Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Equity Residential during the fourth quarter valued at about $1,964,000. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. grew its holdings in shares of Equity Residential by 5.8% during the fourth quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 1,016,454 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $63,051,000 after purchasing an additional 55,786 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Equity Residential by 1.1% in the fourth 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 buying an additional 114,604 shares during the period. Vestcor Inc raised its holdings in Equity Residential by 1,432.1% in the 4th quarter. Vestcor Inc now owns 114,325 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $7,207,000 after buying an additional 106,863 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Hsbc Holdings PLC raised its holdings in Equity Residential by 26.7% in the 4th quarter. Hsbc Holdings PLC now owns 1,475,500 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $93,079,000 after buying an additional 310,859 shares during the last quarter. 92.68% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Key Equity Residential News

Here are the key news stories impacting Equity Residential this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Equity Residential posted Q2 FFO of $1.02 per share, edging past estimates, and management raised its same-store revenue and NOI outlook, signaling better-than-expected operating momentum. Article Title
• Positive Sentiment: Leasing trends improved, with stronger demand in San Francisco and New York helping offset broader real estate concerns and supporting the company’s outlook. Article Title
• Neutral Sentiment: Analysts remained cautious overall, with Jefferies and BTIG maintaining hold ratings, suggesting the stock may already reflect much of the near-term improvement. Article Title
• Neutral Sentiment: The company also reported revenue slightly below Wall Street expectations, which tempered some of the enthusiasm around the earnings beat. Article Title
• Negative Sentiment: Some reports noted that rising expenses and uncertainty tied to the pending AvalonBay merger were weighing on sentiment despite the solid quarterly beat. Article Title

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.