Piper Sandler Boosts Equity Residential (NYSE:EQR) Price Target to $85.00

Equity Residential (NYSE:EQR) had its target price hoisted by Piper Sandler from $80.00 to $85.00 in a research report report published on Wednesday, Benzinga reports. Piper Sandler currently has an overweight rating on the real estate investment trust’s stock.

Several other research firms also recently commented on EQR. Scotiabank boosted their price target on shares of Equity Residential from $65.00 to $72.00 and gave the stock a sector perform rating in a research note on Tuesday, May 14th. Mizuho boosted their price target on shares of Equity Residential from $61.00 to $64.00 and gave the stock a neutral rating in a research note on Thursday, May 30th. UBS Group boosted their price target on shares of Equity Residential from $75.00 to $82.00 and gave the stock a buy rating in a research note on Thursday, July 18th. Wedbush restated a neutral rating and issued a $68.00 price target on shares of Equity Residential in a research note on Monday, April 29th. Finally, Evercore ISI downgraded shares of Equity Residential from an outperform rating to an in-line rating and set a $70.00 price target for the company. in a research note on Monday, May 13th. Eleven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of Hold and an average price target of $70.41.

Equity Residential Stock Down 0.6 %

Equity Residential stock opened at $70.22 on Wednesday. Equity Residential has a fifty-two week low of $52.57 and a fifty-two week high of $72.32. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.64, a quick ratio of 0.23 and a current ratio of 0.21. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $67.81 and a 200 day moving average price of $64.22. The company has a market capitalization of $26.65 billion, a PE ratio of 29.14, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.06 and a beta of 0.87.

Equity Residential (NYSE:EQR) last posted its earnings results on Monday, July 29th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.47 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.96 by ($0.49). Equity Residential had a net margin of 32.83% and a return on equity of 8.53%. The company had revenue of $734.20 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $735.26 million. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $0.94 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter 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 year.

Equity Residential Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, July 12th. Investors of record on Monday, July 1st were given a $0.675 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, July 1st. This represents a $2.70 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.85%. Equity Residential’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 112.03%.

Insider Activity at Equity Residential

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

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Equity Residential

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Fidelis Capital Partners LLC acquired a new position in Equity Residential in the first quarter valued at $27,000. Allworth Financial LP increased its stake in Equity Residential by 120.8% in the fourth quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 488 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $30,000 after purchasing an additional 267 shares during the period. Voisard Asset Management Group Inc. acquired a new position in Equity Residential in the fourth quarter valued at $33,000. AdvisorNet Financial Inc acquired a new position in Equity Residential in the fourth quarter valued at $34,000. Finally, Massmutual Trust Co. FSB ADV increased its stake in Equity Residential by 41.9% in the second quarter. Massmutual Trust Co. FSB ADV now owns 525 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $36,000 after purchasing an additional 155 shares during the period. 92.68% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.