Equity Residential (NYSE:EQR) Price Target Raised to $70.00

Equity Residential (NYSE:EQR) had its price target hoisted by stock analysts at Evercore ISI from $67.00 to $70.00 in a report released on Thursday, Benzinga reports. The firm currently has an “outperform” rating on the real estate investment trust’s stock. Evercore ISI’s price target indicates a potential upside of 9.12% from the company’s previous close.

EQR has been the subject of a number of other reports. Morgan Stanley increased their price target on Equity Residential from $58.00 to $64.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Monday, February 26th. Royal Bank of Canada increased their price target on Equity Residential from $65.00 to $66.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, February 1st. Piper Sandler restated a “neutral” rating and issued a $62.00 price objective on shares of Equity Residential in a report on Tuesday, March 26th. BMO Capital Markets raised Equity Residential from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and increased their price target for the stock from $68.00 to $70.00 in a report on Monday. Finally, Truist Financial dropped their price objective on shares of Equity Residential from $71.00 to $67.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, April 9th. Ten analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $66.04.

Equity Residential Trading Down 0.7 %

NYSE:EQR traded down $0.46 during trading hours on Thursday, hitting $64.15. The company had a trading volume of 263,309 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,064,304. The company has a current ratio of 0.30, a quick ratio of 0.30 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.66. The company has a 50-day moving average of $61.80 and a 200 day moving average of $59.77. The company has a market cap of $24.31 billion, a P/E ratio of 26.61, a P/E/G ratio of 3.66 and a beta of 0.84. Equity Residential has a 1 year low of $52.57 and a 1 year high of $69.45.

Equity Residential (NYSE:EQR) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, April 23rd. The real estate investment trust reported $0.93 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.91 by $0.02. The company had revenue of $730.80 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $728.09 million. Equity Residential had a return on equity of 8.19% and a net margin of 31.70%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 3.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $0.87 EPS. Sell-side analysts expect that Equity Residential will post 3.86 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Equity Residential

In related news, COO Michael L. Manelis sold 1,639 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, February 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $59.43, for a total transaction of $97,405.77. Following the sale, the chief operating officer now owns 31,053 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,845,479.79. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In related news, CFO Robert Garechana sold 876 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $57.80, for a total transaction of $50,632.80. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 20,933 shares in the company, valued at $1,209,927.40. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, COO Michael L. Manelis sold 1,639 shares of Equity Residential stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $59.43, for a total value of $97,405.77. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer now owns 31,053 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,845,479.79. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 3,280 shares of company stock worth $192,335. 1.00% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Equity Residential

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in EQR. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in Equity Residential during the fourth quarter worth about $2,143,388,000. FMR LLC grew its holdings in shares of Equity Residential by 68.5% during the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 4,416,565 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $259,297,000 after purchasing an additional 1,795,772 shares during the period. Davis Asset Management L.P. acquired a new stake in Equity Residential during the 4th quarter worth approximately $61,160,000. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board raised its holdings in Equity Residential by 13.8% in the third quarter. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board now owns 5,206,249 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $305,659,000 after buying an additional 629,813 shares during the period. Finally, First Eagle Investment Management LLC lifted its position in Equity Residential by 5.9% during the fourth quarter. First Eagle Investment Management LLC now owns 9,325,268 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $570,333,000 after buying an additional 516,941 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.