Equity Residential (NYSE:EQR) Receives Consensus Rating of “Hold” from Analysts

Equity Residential (NYSE:EQR) has been assigned a consensus recommendation of “Hold” from the nineteen ratings firms that are covering the company, Marketbeat reports. Ten analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating on the company. The average 12-month price objective among brokerages that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $78.46.

A number of analysts recently commented on the company. Mizuho decreased their price objective on Equity Residential from $78.00 to $74.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock 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 report on Monday, February 10th. StockNews.com raised shares of Equity Residential from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, February 8th. Royal Bank of Canada lowered their target price on shares of Equity Residential from $83.00 to $79.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, November 1st. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus set a $82.25 price target on Equity Residential in a research note on Tuesday, February 4th.

Insider Buying and Selling at Equity Residential

In other Equity Residential news, COO Michael L. Manelis sold 9,487 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $72.07, for a total transaction of $683,728.09. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer now owns 26,781 shares in the company, valued at $1,930,106.67. This trade represents a 26.16 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CAO Ian Kaufman sold 642 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $72.06, for a total transaction of $46,262.52. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 25,539 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,840,340.34. The trade was a 2.45 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 19,763 shares of company stock worth $1,424,217 over the last three months. Corporate insiders own 1.00% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Equity Residential

A number of institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. SRS Capital Advisors Inc. grew its holdings in Equity Residential by 607.8% in the 4th quarter. SRS Capital Advisors Inc. now owns 361 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $26,000 after buying an additional 310 shares during the last quarter. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB bought a new stake in shares of Equity Residential in the third quarter valued at approximately $29,000. Assetmark Inc. grew its stake in shares of Equity Residential by 2,529.4% in the third quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 447 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $33,000 after acquiring an additional 430 shares during the last quarter. Brooklyn Investment Group bought a new position in Equity Residential during the third quarter worth $33,000. Finally, Continuum Advisory LLC acquired a new position in Equity Residential during the 3rd quarter valued at $40,000. 92.68% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Equity Residential Trading Down 0.2 %

Shares of Equity Residential stock opened at $72.80 on Thursday. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $70.47 and a 200 day moving average price of $72.83. The company has a market capitalization of $27.64 billion, a P/E ratio of 26.76, a P/E/G ratio of 3.99 and a beta of 0.93. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.72, a current ratio of 0.36 and a quick ratio of 0.36. Equity Residential has a 1 year low of $58.93 and a 1 year high of $78.83.

Equity Residential Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, January 17th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, January 2nd were paid a $0.675 dividend. This represents a $2.70 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.71%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, January 2nd. Equity Residential’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 99.26%.

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.