Equity Residential (EQR) To Go Ex-Dividend on March 31st

Equity Residential (NYSE:EQR) announced a quarterly dividend on Thursday, March 20th, RTT News reports. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 31st will be paid a dividend of 0.6925 per share by the real estate investment trust on Thursday, April 17th. This represents a $2.77 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.97%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 31st. This is a 2.6% increase from Equity Residential’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.68.

Equity Residential has raised its dividend by an average of 3.9% per year over the last three years. Equity Residential has a dividend payout ratio of 191.5% meaning the company cannot currently cover its dividend with earnings alone and is relying on its balance sheet to cover its dividend payments. Equities research analysts expect Equity Residential to earn $4.21 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $2.70 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 64.1%.

Equity Residential Stock Performance

Equity Residential stock opened at $69.85 on Friday. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $70.79 and its 200-day moving average price is $72.66. Equity Residential has a twelve month low of $59.48 and a twelve month high of $78.84. The company has a quick ratio of 0.36, a current ratio of 0.36 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.72. The company has a market cap of $26.52 billion, a PE ratio of 25.68, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.99 and a beta of 0.91.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, COO Michael L. Manelis sold 9,487 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $72.07, for a total transaction of $683,728.09. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer now owns 26,781 shares in the company, valued at $1,930,106.67. The trade was a 26.16 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, EVP Scott Fenster sold 5,340 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $72.06, for a total transaction of $384,800.40. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 35,507 shares in the company, valued at $2,558,634.42. The trade was 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 worth $1,424,217 in the last 90 days. 1.00% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms recently commented on EQR. Mizuho dropped their price target on shares of Equity Residential from $78.00 to $74.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, January 6th. Evercore ISI lifted their price target on shares of Equity Residential from $74.00 to $76.00 and gave the stock an “in-line” rating in a research note on Monday, February 10th. Scotiabank lifted 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 note on Friday, February 14th. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price objective on shares of Equity Residential from $77.00 to $75.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, January 24th. Finally, Barclays lowered their price objective on shares of Equity Residential from $83.00 to $79.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, January 24th. Ten analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Equity Residential currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $78.51.

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.