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

Shares of Equity Residential (NYSE:EQR) have been given a consensus rating of “Hold” by the nineteen analysts that are covering the stock, Marketbeat reports. Ten investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and nine have given a buy recommendation to the company. The average 1 year price objective among brokerages that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $78.46.

Several brokerages have recently issued reports on EQR. Scotiabank raised their price target on Equity Residential from $78.00 to $79.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Friday, February 14th. Stifel Nicolaus set a $82.25 target price on Equity Residential in a research report on Tuesday, February 4th. Mizuho decreased their target price on Equity Residential from $78.00 to $74.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, January 6th. Barclays decreased their target price on Equity Residential from $83.00 to $79.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, January 24th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company decreased their target price on Equity Residential from $77.00 to $75.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, January 24th.

Equity Residential Trading Up 0.4 %

Shares of NYSE:EQR opened at $73.74 on Thursday. The company has a market cap of $28.00 billion, a P/E ratio of 27.11, a P/E/G ratio of 3.99 and a beta of 0.93. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $70.74 and its 200-day moving average is $72.93. Equity Residential has a 52-week low of $59.48 and a 52-week high of $78.83. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.72, a quick ratio of 0.36 and a current ratio of 0.36.

Equity Residential Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, January 17th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, January 2nd were paid a $0.675 dividend. This represents a $2.70 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.66%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, January 2nd. Equity Residential’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 99.26%.

Insider Activity

In other Equity Residential news, EVP Scott Fenster sold 5,340 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $72.06, for a total transaction of $384,800.40. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 35,507 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,558,634.42. The trade was a 13.07 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, COO Michael L. Manelis sold 9,487 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $72.07, for a total transaction of $683,728.09. Following the sale, the chief operating officer now owns 26,781 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,930,106.67. The trade was a 26.16 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 19,763 shares of company stock worth $1,424,217. Insiders own 1.00% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Equity Residential

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in EQR. Universal Beteiligungs und Servicegesellschaft mbH acquired a new position in shares of Equity Residential in the 4th quarter valued at $27,584,000. Employees Retirement System of Texas lifted its position in Equity Residential by 24.0% during the 4th quarter. Employees Retirement System of Texas now owns 258,020 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $18,516,000 after buying an additional 50,000 shares in the last quarter. Azzad Asset Management Inc. ADV lifted its position in Equity Residential by 4.5% during the 4th quarter. Azzad Asset Management Inc. ADV now owns 33,994 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $2,439,000 after buying an additional 1,461 shares in the last quarter. Ascent Group LLC lifted its position in Equity Residential by 10.0% during the 4th quarter. Ascent Group LLC now owns 19,597 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $1,406,000 after buying an additional 1,781 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Toronto Dominion Bank raised its holdings in shares of Equity Residential by 7.4% in the 4th quarter. Toronto Dominion Bank now owns 182,560 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $13,101,000 after purchasing an additional 12,654 shares during the period. Institutional investors 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.