Equity Residential (NYSE:EQR) Price Target Raised to $81.00

Equity Residential (NYSE:EQR) had its target price boosted by investment analysts at Scotiabank from $77.00 to $81.00 in a note issued to investors on Monday, Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has a “sector perform” rating on the real estate investment trust’s stock. Scotiabank’s target price indicates a potential upside of 3.47% from the company’s current price.

Several other analysts have also recently commented on the company. Piper Sandler increased their target price on Equity Residential from $80.00 to $85.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 31st. Evercore ISI increased their price objective on shares of Equity Residential from $75.00 to $76.00 and gave the stock an “in-line” rating in a report on Monday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price on shares of Equity Residential from $68.00 to $80.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday. Royal Bank of Canada upped their target price on shares of Equity Residential from $74.00 to $75.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 31st. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group initiated coverage on shares of Equity Residential in a report on Wednesday, September 4th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $81.00 price target for the company. Twelve investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $75.62.

Equity Residential Price Performance

EQR stock traded up $0.20 during trading on Monday, hitting $78.28. 379,049 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,900,211. The stock has a market cap of $29.71 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 32.41, a P/E/G ratio of 4.27 and a beta of 0.89. Equity Residential has a one year low of $52.57 and a one year high of $78.84. The company has a current ratio of 0.21, a quick ratio of 0.21 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.64. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $71.78 and a 200 day simple moving average of $67.15.

Equity Residential (NYSE:EQR) last posted its earnings results on Monday, July 29th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.47 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.96 by ($0.49). The firm had revenue of $734.20 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $735.26 million. Equity Residential had a net margin of 32.83% and a return on equity of 8.53%. The business’s revenue was up 2.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $0.94 EPS. Equities analysts expect that Equity Residential will post 3.89 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Transactions at Equity Residential

In other news, CFO Robert Garechana sold 6,357 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, June 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $69.08, for a total value of $439,141.56. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 14,576 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,006,910.08. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Insiders own 1.00% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Equity Residential

Several institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. Fidelis Capital Partners LLC bought a new stake in Equity Residential during the 1st quarter worth approximately $27,000. Voisard Asset Management Group Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Equity Residential during the fourth quarter worth $33,000. Massmutual Trust Co. FSB ADV raised its holdings in shares of Equity Residential by 41.9% during the second quarter. Massmutual Trust Co. FSB ADV now owns 525 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $36,000 after acquiring an additional 155 shares during the period. HHM Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its position in Equity Residential by 146.6% in the 2nd quarter. HHM Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 550 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $38,000 after acquiring an additional 327 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Richardson Financial Services Inc. acquired a new position in Equity Residential in the 1st quarter worth $41,000. Institutional investors 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.