Equity Residential (NYSE:EQR) Upgraded by Jefferies Financial Group to Hold Rating

Jefferies Financial Group upgraded shares of Equity Residential (NYSE:EQR) to a hold rating in a research report released on Wednesday morning,Zacks.com reports.

EQR has been the subject of a number of other research reports. Weiss Ratings downgraded shares of Equity Residential from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “hold (c)” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 16th. Cantor Fitzgerald increased their price objective on Equity Residential from $64.00 to $66.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, May 4th. Royal Bank Of Canada cut Equity Residential from an “outperform” rating to a “sector perform” rating and lifted their price objective for the company from $69.00 to $70.00 in a research report on Monday, June 8th. The Goldman Sachs Group lowered their target price on Equity Residential from $71.00 to $69.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, April 16th. Finally, Morgan Stanley raised Equity Residential from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and upped their target price for the stock from $72.00 to $74.00 in a research report on Thursday, March 26th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eight have given a Buy rating and fourteen have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $71.40.

Equity Residential Trading Down 0.1%

NYSE:EQR opened at $68.20 on Wednesday. The stock has a market cap of $25.57 billion, a PE ratio of 27.28, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.42 and a beta of 0.74. Equity Residential has a fifty-two week low of $57.57 and a fifty-two week high of $71.50. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.77, a current ratio of 0.18 and a quick ratio of 0.18. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $67.16 and its two-hundred day moving average is $63.86.

Equity Residential (NYSE:EQR) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 28th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.24 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.33 by ($0.09). Equity Residential had a return on equity of 8.57% and a net margin of 30.63%.The company had revenue of $779.85 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $781.79 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $0.95 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 2.5% compared to the same quarter last year. Equity Residential has set its FY 2026 guidance at 4.020-4.140 EPS and its Q2 2026 guidance at 0.980-1.020 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Equity Residential will post 4.09 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Equity Residential Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, July 10th. Shareholders of record on Monday, June 29th were issued a dividend of $0.7025 per share. This represents a $2.81 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.1%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, June 29th. Equity Residential’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 112.40%.

Institutional Trading of Equity Residential

Several large investors have recently made changes to their positions in EQR. Wolverine Asset Management LLC bought a new position in Equity Residential during the fourth quarter worth about $1,964,000. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. grew its stake in shares of Equity Residential by 5.8% in the 4th quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 1,016,454 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $63,051,000 after purchasing an additional 55,786 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Equity Residential by 1.1% in the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 10,258,275 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $644,412,000 after purchasing an additional 114,604 shares during the period. Vestcor Inc raised its holdings in shares of Equity Residential by 1,432.1% in the 4th quarter. Vestcor Inc now owns 114,325 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $7,207,000 after buying an additional 106,863 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Hsbc Holdings PLC raised its holdings in shares of Equity Residential by 26.7% in the 4th quarter. Hsbc Holdings PLC now owns 1,475,500 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $93,079,000 after buying an additional 310,859 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 92.68% of the company’s stock.

Equity Residential Company Profile

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.