Wedbush Analysts Raise Earnings Estimates for Equity Residential (NYSE:EQR)

Equity Residential (NYSE:EQR) – Equities research analysts at Wedbush boosted their Q2 2024 earnings estimates for Equity Residential in a research note issued to investors on Monday, April 29th. Wedbush analyst R. Anderson now expects that the real estate investment trust will post earnings of $0.96 per share for the quarter, up from their prior forecast of $0.95. Wedbush currently has a “Neutral” rating and a $68.00 target price on the stock. The consensus estimate for Equity Residential’s current full-year earnings is $3.85 per share. Wedbush also issued estimates for Equity Residential’s Q3 2024 earnings at $1.01 EPS, Q4 2024 earnings at $1.04 EPS and FY2025 earnings at $4.06 EPS.

EQR has been the subject of a number of other research reports. The Goldman Sachs Group restated a “buy” rating and set a $70.00 target price on shares of Equity Residential in a research report on Thursday, February 22nd. BMO Capital Markets upgraded Equity Residential from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and boosted their price target for the company from $68.00 to $70.00 in a report on Monday, April 22nd. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft began coverage on Equity Residential in a research note on Tuesday, January 30th. They issued a “hold” rating and a $64.00 price target on the stock. Mizuho dropped their price target on shares of Equity Residential from $62.00 to $61.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, February 28th. Finally, Morgan Stanley boosted their price target on Equity Residential from $58.00 to $64.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Monday, February 26th. Ten equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $67.04.

Equity Residential Trading Down 1.4 %

Shares of EQR opened at $64.40 on Tuesday. Equity Residential has a twelve month low of $52.57 and a twelve month high of $69.45. The firm has a market capitalization of $24.40 billion, a P/E ratio of 26.72, a PEG ratio of 3.78 and a beta of 0.84. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $62.18 and its two-hundred day moving average is $59.91. The company has a current ratio of 0.23, a quick ratio of 0.30 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.64.

Equity Residential (NYSE:EQR) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 23rd. The real estate investment trust reported $0.93 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.91 by $0.02. Equity Residential had a return on equity of 8.18% and a net margin of 31.70%. The firm had revenue of $730.80 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $728.09 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $0.87 earnings per share. Equity Residential’s revenue was up 3.6% compared to the same quarter last year.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Norges Bank acquired a new position in shares of Equity Residential in the 4th quarter valued at about $2,143,388,000. FMR LLC boosted its position in 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 acquiring an additional 1,795,772 shares during the period. Davis Asset Management L.P. acquired a new position in Equity Residential during the 4th quarter worth $61,160,000. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board boosted its position in Equity Residential by 13.8% during the 3rd quarter. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board now owns 5,206,249 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $305,659,000 after acquiring an additional 629,813 shares during the period. Finally, First Eagle Investment Management LLC boosted its position in Equity Residential by 5.9% during the 4th quarter. First Eagle Investment Management LLC now owns 9,325,268 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $570,333,000 after acquiring an additional 516,941 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.68% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Equity Residential news, Director Mary Kay Haben sold 3,241 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, April 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $65.48, for a total transaction of $212,220.68. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 9,720 shares in the company, valued at approximately $636,465.60. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. In other Equity Residential news, Director Mary Kay Haben sold 3,241 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, April 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $65.48, for a total transaction of $212,220.68. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 9,720 shares in the company, valued at approximately $636,465.60. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, COO Michael L. Manelis sold 1,639 shares of the firm’s 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 transaction, the chief operating officer now directly owns 31,053 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,845,479.79. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 10,548 shares of company stock worth $666,351. 1.00% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Equity Residential Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, April 12th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 25th were given a dividend of $0.675 per share. This represents a $2.70 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.19%. This is a positive change from Equity Residential’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.66. The ex-dividend date was Friday, March 22nd. Equity Residential’s payout ratio is presently 112.03%.

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.