Brokerages Set Equity Residential (NYSE:EQR) Price Target at $77.25

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 Ratings reports. Eleven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and eight have issued a buy recommendation on the company. The average 12 month target price among analysts that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $77.25.

EQR has been the subject of several recent research reports. Piper Sandler increased their target price on shares of Equity Residential from $80.00 to $85.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 31st. Scotiabank reduced their price objective on shares of Equity Residential from $81.00 to $78.00 and set a “sector perform” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, November 14th. Bank of America downgraded Equity Residential from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and lifted their target price for the company from $78.00 to $82.00 in a research report on Tuesday, September 24th. BNP Paribas began coverage on Equity Residential in a research report on Wednesday, September 11th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $83.00 price target for the company. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus raised Equity Residential from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their price target for the stock from $77.75 to $81.50 in a research report on Wednesday, November 13th.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Equity Residential

A number of large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD increased its position in Equity Residential by 1.9% during the 1st quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 20,267,675 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $1,279,095,000 after buying an additional 381,236 shares during the period. U.S. Capital Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new position in Equity Residential during the second quarter worth about $3,893,000. Boston Partners raised its stake in Equity Residential by 4.3% in the 1st quarter. Boston Partners now owns 2,715,151 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $171,368,000 after purchasing an additional 112,270 shares in the last quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers bought a new stake in Equity Residential in the 1st quarter valued at about $2,841,000. Finally, Canada Pension Plan Investment Board grew its position in shares of Equity Residential by 1.2% during the 2nd 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 purchasing an additional 60,000 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 92.68% of the company’s stock.

Equity Residential Trading Up 0.8 %

NYSE EQR opened at $76.41 on Tuesday. Equity Residential has a 52 week low of $56.05 and a 52 week high of $78.83. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.76, a quick ratio of 0.13 and a current ratio of 0.13. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $74.09 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $71.17. The stock has a market capitalization of $28.99 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.32, a PEG ratio of 6.15 and a beta of 0.90.

Equity Residential Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, October 11th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, September 24th were issued a dividend of $0.675 per share. This represents a $2.70 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.53%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, September 24th. Equity Residential’s dividend payout ratio is presently 110.66%.

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.