Equity Residential (NYSE:EQR) Receives $69.73 Consensus Target Price from Brokerages

Shares of Equity Residential (NYSE:EQR) have been assigned a consensus recommendation of “Hold” from the twenty research firms that are currently covering the stock, MarketBeat.com reports. Twelve investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation, seven have issued a buy recommendation and one has assigned a strong buy recommendation to the company. The average 1 year target price among brokers that have covered the stock in the last year is $69.5750.

A number of research firms recently weighed in on EQR. UBS Group upped their target price 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. Evercore lowered their target price on shares of Equity Residential from $70.00 to $67.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Monday. BMO Capital Markets lowered shares of Equity Residential from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating and lowered their target price for the stock from $70.00 to $68.00 in a report on Friday, January 9th. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their target price on shares of Equity Residential from $69.00 to $71.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, February 12th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lowered shares of Equity Residential from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $63.00 target price on the stock. in a report on Tuesday, January 20th.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, EVP Robert Garechana sold 3,637 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $65.13, for a total value of $236,877.81. Following the sale, the executive vice president owned 18,740 shares in the company, valued at $1,220,536.20. This represents a 16.25% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, EVP Catherine Carraway sold 656 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $65.13, for a total transaction of $42,725.28. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president owned 18,339 shares in the company, valued at $1,194,419.07. This represents a 3.45% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders have sold 10,058 shares of company stock worth $655,078 in the last quarter. Insiders own 1.10% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Equity Residential

A number of institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in EQR. Empowered Funds LLC grew its position in Equity Residential by 3.1% in the 1st quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 7,489 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $536,000 after purchasing an additional 226 shares in the last quarter. Quadrant Capital Group LLC grew its position in Equity Residential by 18.8% in the 2nd quarter. Quadrant Capital Group LLC now owns 6,685 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $451,000 after purchasing an additional 1,059 shares in the last quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. grew its position in Equity Residential by 166.2% in the 2nd quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. now owns 3,612 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $244,000 after purchasing an additional 2,255 shares in the last quarter. Mackenzie Financial Corp grew its position in Equity Residential by 6.4% in the 2nd quarter. Mackenzie Financial Corp now owns 67,826 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $4,578,000 after purchasing an additional 4,082 shares in the last quarter. Finally, M&T Bank Corp grew its position in Equity Residential by 5.1% in the 2nd quarter. M&T Bank Corp now owns 40,116 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $2,707,000 after purchasing an additional 1,962 shares in the last quarter. 92.68% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Equity Residential Stock Performance

NYSE EQR opened at $60.23 on Friday. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $61.64 and a 200 day simple moving average of $61.66. Equity Residential has a 12-month low of $57.57 and a 12-month high of $72.40. The company has a current ratio of 0.31, a quick ratio of 0.31 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.73. The company has a market cap of $22.74 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.56, a PEG ratio of 4.55 and a beta of 0.73.

Equity Residential (NYSE:EQR) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 5th. The real estate investment trust reported $1.03 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.04 by ($0.01). Equity Residential had a net margin of 36.20% and a return on equity of 9.98%. The business had revenue of $781.91 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $786.35 million. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $1.00 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 2.0% compared to the same quarter last year. 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. Sell-side analysts predict that Equity Residential will post 3.98 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Equity Residential Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, April 10th. Investors of record on Monday, March 30th will be issued a $0.7025 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 30th. This represents a $2.81 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.7%. This is a boost from Equity Residential’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.69. Equity Residential’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 95.90%.

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.