Zacks Research Equities Analysts Decrease Earnings Estimates for Equity Residential (NYSE:EQR)

Equity Residential (NYSE:EQR) – Equities research analysts at Zacks Research lowered their FY2026 earnings per share (EPS) estimates for shares of Equity Residential in a research note issued to investors on Tuesday, April 23rd. Zacks Research analyst R. Department now anticipates that the real estate investment trust will post earnings of $4.17 per share for the year, down from their prior estimate of $4.21. The consensus estimate for Equity Residential’s current full-year earnings is $3.86 per share.

Equity Residential (NYSE:EQR) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 23rd. The real estate investment trust reported $0.93 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.91 by $0.02. The business had revenue of $730.80 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $728.09 million. Equity Residential had a return on equity of 8.19% and a net margin of 31.70%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 3.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $0.87 EPS.

Several other equities analysts have also recently commented on EQR. BMO Capital Markets raised shares of Equity Residential from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and lifted their target price for the stock from $68.00 to $70.00 in a research report on Monday. Piper Sandler reissued a “neutral” rating and set a $62.00 target price on shares of Equity Residential in a research report on Tuesday, March 26th. Barclays dropped their target price on shares of Equity Residential from $69.00 to $67.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, February 20th. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their target price on shares of Equity Residential from $65.00 to $66.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 1st. Finally, Truist Financial dropped their target price on shares of Equity Residential from $71.00 to $67.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, April 9th. Ten research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $66.04.

Equity Residential Price Performance

EQR stock opened at $64.90 on Wednesday. Equity Residential has a 52-week low of $52.57 and a 52-week high of $69.45. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $61.89 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $59.81. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.66, a quick ratio of 0.30 and a current ratio of 0.30. The company has a market capitalization of $24.59 billion, a P/E ratio of 26.93, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.66 and a beta of 0.84.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in EQR. Financial Gravity Asset Management Inc. grew its position in Equity Residential by 593.9% in the third quarter. Financial Gravity Asset Management Inc. now owns 458 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $25,000 after acquiring an additional 392 shares in the last quarter. Bruce G. Allen Investments LLC purchased a new stake in Equity Residential during the fourth quarter valued at about $28,000. Allworth Financial LP boosted its position in Equity Residential by 120.8% during the fourth quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 488 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $30,000 after buying an additional 267 shares during the period. Voisard Asset Management Group Inc. purchased a new stake in Equity Residential during the fourth quarter valued at about $33,000. Finally, AdvisorNet Financial Inc purchased a new stake in Equity Residential during the fourth quarter valued at about $34,000. 92.68% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at Equity Residential

In other news, COO Michael L. Manelis sold 1,639 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, February 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $59.43, for a total transaction of $97,405.77. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer now directly owns 31,053 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,845,479.79. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In other news, COO Michael L. Manelis sold 1,639 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, February 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $59.43, for a total transaction of $97,405.77. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer now directly owns 31,053 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,845,479.79. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CFO Robert Garechana sold 876 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $57.80, for a total transaction of $50,632.80. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 20,933 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,209,927.40. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 3,280 shares of company stock valued at $192,335 in the last 90 days. 1.00% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Equity Residential Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, April 12th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 25th were issued a dividend of $0.675 per share. This is a boost from Equity Residential’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.66. The ex-dividend date was Friday, March 22nd. This represents a $2.70 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.16%. Equity Residential’s payout ratio is presently 112.03%.

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.