Barclays Forecasts Strong Price Appreciation for Equity Residential (NYSE:EQR) Stock

Equity Residential (NYSE:EQR) had its price target lifted by Barclays from $79.00 to $83.00 in a research note released on Friday,Benzinga reports. They currently have an overweight rating on the real estate investment trust’s stock.

EQR has been the subject of a number of other research reports. Truist Financial lifted their target price on Equity Residential from $76.00 to $78.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, March 10th. Scotiabank boosted their price objective on shares of Equity Residential from $78.00 to $79.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Friday, February 14th. Evercore ISI upped their target price on Equity Residential from $74.00 to $76.00 and gave the stock an “in-line” rating in a report on Monday, February 10th. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their price target on Equity Residential from $75.00 to $76.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, May 1st. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded Equity Residential from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, February 8th. Ten investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $78.94.

Equity Residential Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:EQR opened at $69.93 on Friday. Equity Residential has a 52 week low of $59.41 and a 52 week high of $78.84. The stock has a market capitalization of $26.57 billion, a P/E ratio of 25.71, a PEG ratio of 3.99 and a beta of 0.89. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $69.00 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $70.95. 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 (NYSE:EQR) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 29th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.95 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.93 by $0.02. The firm had revenue of $760.81 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $769.43 million. Equity Residential had a net margin of 34.76% and a return on equity of 9.27%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $0.93 EPS. On average, analysts expect that Equity Residential will post 3.98 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Equity Residential Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, April 17th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 31st were given a $0.6925 dividend. This represents a $2.77 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.96%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, March 31st. This is an increase from Equity Residential’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.68. Equity Residential’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 105.73%.

Institutional Trading of Equity Residential

Several large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank boosted its stake in Equity Residential by 119.8% during the 4th quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank now owns 483,753 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $34,714,000 after purchasing an additional 263,622 shares during the last quarter. Vert Asset Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Equity Residential by 7.5% in the fourth quarter. Vert Asset Management LLC now owns 150,245 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $10,782,000 after buying an additional 10,472 shares in the last quarter. Mission Wealth Management LP acquired a new position in Equity Residential during the fourth quarter worth about $321,000. Atomi Financial Group Inc. grew its stake in Equity Residential by 8.3% during the 4th quarter. Atomi Financial Group Inc. now owns 3,707 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $266,000 after acquiring an additional 284 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Keybank National Association OH raised its holdings in Equity Residential by 2.0% in the 4th quarter. Keybank National Association OH now owns 7,001 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $502,000 after acquiring an additional 139 shares during the last quarter. 92.68% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

About Equity Residential

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.