Equity Residential (NYSE:EQR) Given Consensus Recommendation of “Hold” by Brokerages

Equity Residential (NYSE:EQR) has been assigned a consensus recommendation of “Hold” from the nineteen brokerages that are covering the stock, MarketBeat reports. Ten investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and nine have issued a buy recommendation on the company. The average 1-year price target among brokerages that have covered the stock in the last year is $78.69.

Several equities research analysts have recently weighed in on EQR shares. Bank of America lowered Equity Residential from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and raised their target price for the stock from $78.00 to $82.00 in a research report on Tuesday, September 24th. Scotiabank cut their price objective on shares of Equity Residential from $81.00 to $78.00 and set a “sector perform” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, November 14th. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Equity Residential from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday. Stifel Nicolaus raised shares of Equity Residential from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their target price for the company from $77.75 to $81.50 in a research report on Wednesday, November 13th. Finally, Barclays started coverage on shares of Equity Residential in a research note on Tuesday, December 17th. They set an “overweight” rating and a $83.00 price target on the stock.

Equity Residential Stock Performance

NYSE:EQR opened at $69.98 on Wednesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $26.55 billion, a PE ratio of 28.68, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.94 and a beta of 0.93. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.76, a current ratio of 0.13 and a quick ratio of 0.13. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $72.60 and its 200 day moving average price is $72.57. Equity Residential has a 12 month low of $57.33 and a 12 month high of $78.83.

Equity Residential Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, January 17th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, January 2nd will be paid a $0.675 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, January 2nd. This represents a $2.70 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.86%. Equity Residential’s dividend payout ratio is currently 110.66%.

Institutional Trading of Equity Residential

Several hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in EQR. State Street Corp raised its holdings in Equity Residential by 1.4% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 23,922,127 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $1,796,976,000 after purchasing an additional 321,002 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in Equity Residential by 1.4% during the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 9,353,944 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $694,441,000 after acquiring an additional 132,638 shares during the period. FMR LLC raised its position in Equity Residential by 29.0% in the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 7,746,494 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $576,804,000 after acquiring an additional 1,741,840 shares in the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. lifted its holdings in Equity Residential by 8.3% in the third quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 7,745,615 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $576,737,000 after acquiring an additional 591,866 shares during the period. Finally, Canada Pension Plan Investment Board boosted 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 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.