Equity Residential (NYSE:EQR) Updates FY 2026 Earnings Guidance

Equity Residential (NYSE:EQR) issued an update on its FY 2026 earnings guidance on Thursday morning. The company provided earnings per share (EPS) guidance of 4.020-4.140 for the period, compared to the consensus estimate of 2.510. The company issued revenue guidance of -. Equity Residential also updated its Q1 2026 guidance to 0.940-0.980 EPS.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

EQR has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. Piper Sandler set a $78.00 target price on Equity Residential in a research report on Tuesday, January 27th. Evercore ISI dropped their price target on Equity Residential from $70.00 to $68.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, November 3rd. BMO Capital Markets downgraded shares of Equity Residential from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating and reduced their price objective for the stock from $70.00 to $68.00 in a research note on Friday, January 9th. Truist Financial decreased their target price on shares of Equity Residential from $75.00 to $70.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, November 17th. Finally, UBS Group upped their price target on shares of Equity Residential from $68.00 to $71.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, January 8th. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and twelve have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $70.01.

Equity Residential Price Performance

Shares of EQR stock traded down $1.29 on Thursday, reaching $61.79. The company had a trading volume of 3,362,544 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,256,942. The business’s 50-day moving average is $61.73 and its 200 day moving average is $62.75. Equity Residential has a one year low of $58.38 and a one year high of $75.86. The company has a quick ratio of 0.45, a current ratio of 0.45 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.75. The stock has a market capitalization of $23.51 billion, a PE ratio of 20.39, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.29 and a beta of 0.76.

Equity Residential (NYSE:EQR) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 5th. The real estate investment trust reported $1.03 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.04 by ($0.01). The company had revenue of $781.91 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $786.35 million. Equity Residential had a return on equity of 10.30% and a net margin of 37.58%.Equity Residential’s revenue for the quarter was up 2.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $1.00 earnings per share. Equity Residential has set its Q1 2026 guidance at 0.940-0.980 EPS and its FY 2026 guidance at 4.020-4.140 EPS. Equities research analysts forecast that Equity Residential will post 3.98 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Equity Residential Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, January 16th. Stockholders of record on Friday, January 2nd were paid a $0.6925 dividend. This represents a $2.77 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.5%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, January 2nd. Equity Residential’s dividend payout ratio is presently 91.42%.

Key Stories Impacting Equity Residential

Here are the key news stories impacting Equity Residential this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Management raised forward guidance sharply — FY2026 EPS guidance of $4.020–$4.140 versus a Street consensus near $2.51, and Q1 2026 EPS guidance of $0.940–$0.980 versus a consensus ~ $0.59. These outsized guidance beats are the main positive driver supporting the stock despite the quarterly miss.
• Neutral Sentiment: The company released its quarter materials (press release and investor slide deck) with full financials and supplemental detail for investors to parse recurring vs. one-time items. Press Release Slide Deck
• Neutral Sentiment: Analyst previews and deeper-metrics writeups are circulating to help investors interpret rent trends, occupancy and same-store fundamentals that will determine whether guidance is sustainable. See coverage for context. Zacks Key Metrics Seeking Alpha Preview Benzinga Outlook
• Negative Sentiment: Q4 results slightly missed: FFO was $1.03 vs. the Zacks consensus $1.04 and revenue was ~$781.9M vs. consensus ~$786.4M — the modest miss highlights near-term execution/market softness that partly offsets the bullish guidance. Zacks: FFO & Revenues Miss

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Equity Residential

Several large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Fulcrum Asset Management LLP bought a new stake in shares of Equity Residential during the third quarter worth about $27,000. Harvest Fund Management Co. Ltd bought a new stake in Equity Residential during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $31,000. MUFG Securities EMEA plc acquired a new position in Equity Residential in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $68,000. Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. increased its position in Equity Residential by 25.6% in the 3rd quarter. Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. now owns 1,235 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $80,000 after acquiring an additional 252 shares during the period. Finally, Federated Hermes Inc. bought a new position in shares of Equity Residential during the second quarter valued at $100,000. 92.68% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

About Equity Residential

Equity Residential (NYSE: EQR) is a publicly traded real estate investment trust that acquires, develops, owns and operates rental apartment properties. Headquartered in Chicago, the company focuses on delivering professionally managed, market-rate apartment homes and related services to renters. Its operations cover a range of property types, including high-rise and mid-rise assets, with amenities and on-site management designed to support resident retention and occupancy.

The company’s core activities include property acquisitions, development and redevelopment, leasing, and day-to-day property management.