Equity Residential (NYSE:EQR) Receives $78.46 Average Target Price from Analysts

Shares of Equity Residential (NYSE:EQR) have received a consensus recommendation of “Hold” from the nineteen ratings firms that are presently covering the company, 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 1-year price objective among brokerages that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $78.46.

EQR has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. Mizuho decreased their price target on Equity Residential from $78.00 to $74.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, January 6th. Scotiabank upped their price target on shares of Equity Residential from $78.00 to $79.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Friday, February 14th. Barclays decreased their price target on shares of Equity Residential from $83.00 to $79.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, January 24th. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price objective on Equity Residential from $77.00 to $75.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Friday, January 24th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus set a $82.25 target price on Equity Residential in a research report on Tuesday, February 4th.

Equity Residential Price Performance

EQR stock opened at $75.01 on Thursday. The stock has a market capitalization of $28.48 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.58, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.99 and a beta of 0.93. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $70.68 and its 200-day simple moving average is $72.91. Equity Residential has a 52-week low of $59.48 and a 52-week high of $78.83. The company has a quick ratio of 0.36, a current ratio of 0.36 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.72.

Equity Residential Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, January 17th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, January 2nd were given a dividend of $0.675 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, January 2nd. This represents a $2.70 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.60%. Equity Residential’s payout ratio is currently 99.26%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Equity Residential

In other news, COO Michael L. Manelis sold 9,487 shares of Equity Residential stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $72.07, for a total value of $683,728.09. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer now owns 26,781 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,930,106.67. This trade represents a 26.16 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, EVP Scott Fenster sold 5,340 shares of Equity Residential stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $72.06, for a total transaction of $384,800.40. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 35,507 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,558,634.42. This represents a 13.07 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 19,763 shares of company stock valued at $1,424,217 in the last ninety days. Insiders own 1.00% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Equity Residential

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of EQR. SRS Capital Advisors Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Equity Residential by 607.8% during the fourth quarter. SRS Capital Advisors Inc. now owns 361 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $26,000 after acquiring an additional 310 shares during the period. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB acquired a new position in Equity Residential during the third quarter worth about $29,000. Assetmark Inc. grew its stake in shares of Equity Residential by 2,529.4% in the 3rd quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 447 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $33,000 after purchasing an additional 430 shares during the last quarter. Brooklyn Investment Group bought a new position in shares of Equity Residential in the third quarter valued at $33,000. Finally, Continuum Advisory LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Equity Residential during the third quarter worth $40,000. 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.