Equity Residential (NYSE:EQR) Receives Consensus Rating of “Hold” from Analysts

Equity Residential (NYSE:EQR) has been assigned a consensus rating of “Hold” from the nineteen brokerages that are currently covering the firm, Marketbeat reports. Ten equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and nine have issued a buy recommendation on the company. The average 12-month target price among brokerages that have covered the stock in the last year is $78.69.

A number of brokerages have recently commented on EQR. Bank of America cut shares of Equity Residential from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and upped their target price for the company from $78.00 to $82.00 in a report on Tuesday, September 24th. Royal Bank of Canada reduced their price objective on Equity Residential from $83.00 to $79.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, November 1st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their target price on Equity Residential from $68.00 to $80.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, September 16th. Stifel Nicolaus upgraded Equity Residential from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their price target for the stock from $77.75 to $81.50 in a research note on Wednesday, November 13th. Finally, Mizuho decreased their price target on Equity Residential from $78.00 to $74.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Monday, January 6th.

Equity Residential Stock Down 0.7 %

EQR stock opened at $67.04 on Wednesday. The company has a market cap of $25.44 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.48, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.94 and a beta of 0.93. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $72.66 and a 200 day moving average price of $72.56. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.76, a current ratio of 0.13 and a quick ratio of 0.13. Equity Residential has a 12 month low of $57.33 and a 12 month high of $78.83.

Equity Residential Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, January 17th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, January 2nd will be issued a $0.675 dividend. This represents a $2.70 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.03%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, January 2nd. Equity Residential’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 110.66%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Equity Residential

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. State Street Corp raised its holdings in shares of Equity Residential by 1.4% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 23,922,127 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $1,796,976,000 after acquiring an additional 321,002 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its stake in Equity Residential by 1.4% in the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 9,353,944 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $694,441,000 after purchasing an additional 132,638 shares during the last quarter. FMR LLC lifted its holdings in Equity Residential by 29.0% in the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 7,746,494 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $576,804,000 after purchasing an additional 1,741,840 shares in the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Equity Residential by 8.3% during the 3rd quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 7,745,615 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $576,737,000 after purchasing an additional 591,866 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Canada Pension Plan Investment Board grew its holdings in shares of Equity Residential by 1.2% during the second quarter. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board now owns 5,001,360 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $346,794,000 after buying an additional 60,000 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.68% of the company’s stock.

Equity Residential Company Profile

Equity Residential is committed to creating communities where people thrive. The Company, a member of the S&P 500, is focused on the acquisition, development and management of residential properties located in and around dynamic cities that attract affluent long-term renters. Equity Residential owns or has investments in 305 properties consisting of 80,683 apartment units, with an established presence in Boston, New York, Washington, DC, Seattle, San Francisco and Southern California, and an expanding presence in Denver, Atlanta, Dallas/Ft.