Equity Residential (NYSE:EQR) Sets New 52-Week High at $72.39

Equity Residential (NYSE:EQR) shares hit a new 52-week high during trading on Wednesday . The stock traded as high as $72.39 and last traded at $72.26, with a volume of 559963 shares traded. The stock had previously closed at $71.98.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

EQR has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on Equity Residential from $66.00 to $69.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, May 31st. Scotiabank boosted their target price on Equity Residential from $72.00 to $73.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 7th. Wedbush boosted their target price on Equity Residential from $68.00 to $75.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, August 5th. UBS Group boosted their target price on Equity Residential from $75.00 to $82.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 18th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada boosted their target price on Equity Residential from $74.00 to $75.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 31st. Eleven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $70.91.

Equity Residential Price Performance

The business has a 50 day moving average price of $69.62 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $65.40. The stock has a market cap of $27.94 billion, a PE ratio of 30.54, a P/E/G ratio of 4.06 and a beta of 0.87. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.64, a quick ratio of 0.23 and a current ratio of 0.21.

Equity Residential (NYSE:EQR) last announced its earnings results on Monday, July 29th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.47 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.96 by ($0.49). Equity Residential had a return on equity of 8.53% and a net margin of 32.83%. The business had revenue of $734.20 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $735.26 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $0.94 EPS. Equity Residential’s quarterly revenue was up 2.4% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts expect that Equity Residential will post 3.88 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Equity Residential Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, July 12th. Stockholders of record on Monday, July 1st were paid a $0.675 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, July 1st. This represents a $2.70 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.67%. Equity Residential’s payout ratio is presently 112.03%.

Insider Activity at Equity Residential

In related news, CFO Robert Garechana sold 6,357 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, June 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $69.08, for a total value of $439,141.56. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 14,576 shares in the company, valued at $1,006,910.08. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. 1.00% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Equity Residential

Several institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of EQR. Fidelis Capital Partners LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Equity Residential during the first quarter worth $27,000. Massmutual Trust Co. FSB ADV lifted its position in shares of Equity Residential by 41.9% during the second quarter. Massmutual Trust Co. FSB ADV now owns 525 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $36,000 after acquiring an additional 155 shares in the last quarter. Voisard Asset Management Group Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Equity Residential during the fourth quarter worth $33,000. HHM Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of Equity Residential by 146.6% during the second quarter. HHM Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 550 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $38,000 after acquiring an additional 327 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Richardson Financial Services Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Equity Residential during the first quarter worth $41,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.68% of the company’s stock.

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.