Equity Residential (NYSE:EQR) PT Raised to $69.00 at Wells Fargo & Company

Equity Residential (NYSE:EQR) had its price target hoisted by Wells Fargo & Company from $66.00 to $69.00 in a report released on Friday, Benzinga reports. The firm currently has an overweight rating on the real estate investment trust’s stock.

Several other analysts have also recently weighed in on EQR. Piper Sandler increased their price target on shares of Equity Residential from $62.00 to $70.00 and gave the company a neutral rating in a research note on Monday, April 29th. Morgan Stanley increased their price target on shares of Equity Residential from $68.00 to $70.00 and gave the company an equal weight rating in a research note on Tuesday, May 14th. Barclays dropped their price target on shares of Equity Residential from $69.00 to $67.00 and set an equal weight rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, February 20th. The Goldman Sachs Group reissued a buy rating and issued a $70.00 price target on shares of Equity Residential in a research note on Thursday, February 22nd. Finally, Mizuho increased their price target on shares of Equity Residential from $61.00 to $64.00 and gave the company a neutral rating in a research note on Thursday. Twelve analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Equity Residential has a consensus rating of Hold and an average target price of $68.41.

Equity Residential Stock Up 1.8 %

EQR stock opened at $65.03 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $24.68 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.98, a PEG ratio of 3.71 and a beta of 0.82. The company has a current ratio of 0.23, a quick ratio of 0.23 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.64. Equity Residential has a 12 month low of $52.57 and a 12 month high of $69.45. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $64.11 and a two-hundred day moving average of $61.54.

Equity Residential (NYSE:EQR) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 23rd. The real estate investment trust reported $0.93 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.91 by $0.02. The company had revenue of $730.80 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $728.09 million. Equity Residential had a net margin of 31.70% and a return on equity of 8.18%. Equity Residential’s quarterly revenue was up 3.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $0.87 EPS. As a group, analysts forecast that Equity Residential will post 3.9 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Equity Residential Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, April 12th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 25th were given a $0.675 dividend. This represents a $2.70 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.15%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, March 22nd. This is a boost from Equity Residential’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.66. Equity Residential’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 112.03%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Equity Residential

In other Equity Residential news, EVP Alexander Brackenridge sold 4,027 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, April 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $65.01, for a total value of $261,795.27. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 69,901 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,544,264.01. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. In other news, EVP Alexander Brackenridge sold 4,027 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, April 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $65.01, for a total value of $261,795.27. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 69,901 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,544,264.01. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director Mary Kay Haben sold 3,241 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, April 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $65.48, for a total transaction of $212,220.68. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 9,720 shares in the company, valued at $636,465.60. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 1.00% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Equity Residential

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its stake in Equity Residential by 0.7% during the 3rd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 57,395,793 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $3,369,707,000 after acquiring an additional 372,181 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in Equity Residential during the 4th quarter worth $2,143,388,000. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD raised its stake 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 acquiring an additional 381,236 shares in the last quarter. APG Asset Management US Inc. raised its stake in Equity Residential by 0.6% during the 4th quarter. APG Asset Management US Inc. now owns 11,598,251 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $709,349,000 after acquiring an additional 71,716 shares in the last quarter. Finally, First Eagle Investment Management LLC raised its stake in Equity Residential by 5.9% during the 4th quarter. First Eagle Investment Management LLC now owns 9,325,268 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $570,333,000 after acquiring an additional 516,941 shares in the last quarter. 92.68% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

About Equity Residential

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.