UBS Group Issues Positive Forecast for Equity Residential (NYSE:EQR) Stock Price

Equity Residential (NYSE:EQR) had its target price lifted by UBS Group from $71.00 to $73.00 in a report released on Thursday, MarketBeat Ratings reports. UBS Group currently has a buy rating on the real estate investment trust’s stock.

EQR has been the topic of a number of other reports. Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Equity Residential from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Saturday, May 2nd. Stifel Nicolaus lowered their price objective on shares of Equity Residential from $78.50 to $78.25 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, April 29th. Barclays lifted their price objective on shares of Equity Residential from $75.00 to $76.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, April 27th. Piper Sandler set a $78.00 price objective on shares of Equity Residential in a research note on Tuesday, January 27th. Finally, Evercore lifted their price objective on shares of Equity Residential from $67.00 to $70.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 29th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seven have given a Buy rating and twelve have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Equity Residential presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $70.01.

Equity Residential Trading Down 1.2%

Shares of NYSE:EQR opened at $65.07 on Thursday. The company has a market cap of $24.38 billion, a PE ratio of 26.03, a P/E/G ratio of 5.22 and a beta of 0.76. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $61.79 and its 200 day moving average price is $61.70. Equity Residential has a fifty-two week low of $57.57 and a fifty-two week high of $71.80. The company has a quick ratio of 0.18, a current ratio of 0.18 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.77.

Equity Residential (NYSE:EQR) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 28th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.24 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.33 by ($0.09). The firm had revenue of $779.85 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $781.79 million. Equity Residential had a net margin of 30.63% and a return on equity of 8.57%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 2.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $0.95 earnings per share. 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. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Equity Residential will post 4.09 earnings per share for the current year.

Equity Residential Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, April 10th. Investors of record on Monday, March 30th were given a dividend of $0.7025 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, March 30th. This is a boost from Equity Residential’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.69. This represents a $2.81 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.3%. Equity Residential’s payout ratio is presently 112.40%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Insigneo Advisory Services LLC grew its position in Equity Residential by 4.9% during the fourth quarter. Insigneo Advisory Services LLC now owns 3,543 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $223,000 after purchasing an additional 165 shares in the last quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers grew its position in Equity Residential by 0.3% during the first quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers now owns 61,177 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $3,619,000 after purchasing an additional 171 shares in the last quarter. Rosenberg Matthew Hamilton lifted its stake in Equity Residential by 69.2% in the fourth quarter. Rosenberg Matthew Hamilton now owns 440 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $28,000 after acquiring an additional 180 shares during the last quarter. Leonteq Securities AG lifted its stake in Equity Residential by 48.8% in the first quarter. Leonteq Securities AG now owns 549 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $32,000 after acquiring an additional 180 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Summitry LLC lifted its stake in Equity Residential by 6.3% in the third quarter. Summitry LLC now owns 3,193 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $207,000 after acquiring an additional 189 shares during the last quarter. 92.68% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.