Equity Residential (NYSE:EQR) Shares Gap Down to $77.44

Equity Residential (NYSE:EQR) gapped down before the market opened on Tuesday . The stock had previously closed at $77.44, but opened at $75.35. Equity Residential shares last traded at $75.72, with a volume of 219,274 shares traded.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

EQR has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Royal Bank of Canada increased their target price on Equity Residential from $74.00 to $75.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 31st. Piper Sandler lifted their price objective on shares of Equity Residential from $80.00 to $85.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 31st. Wedbush raised their price objective on Equity Residential from $68.00 to $75.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, August 5th. Wells Fargo & Company cut shares of Equity Residential from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and raised their price target for the company from $69.00 to $77.00 in a report on Monday, August 26th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price on shares of Equity Residential from $68.00 to $80.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, September 16th. Thirteen investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $75.97.

Equity Residential Stock Down 2.3 %

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.64, a quick ratio of 0.21 and a current ratio of 0.21. The business’s 50 day moving average is $72.91 and its 200-day moving average is $67.79. The stock has a market cap of $28.73 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 32.13, a PEG ratio of 4.27 and a beta of 0.89.

Equity Residential (NYSE:EQR) last released its earnings results on Monday, July 29th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.47 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.96 by ($0.49). Equity Residential had a return on equity of 8.53% and a net margin of 32.83%. The company had revenue of $734.20 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $735.26 million. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $0.94 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 2.4% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Equity Residential will post 3.89 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Equity Residential Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, October 11th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, September 24th will be paid a $0.675 dividend. This represents a $2.70 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.57%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, September 24th. Equity Residential’s dividend payout ratio is currently 112.03%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Fidelis Capital Partners LLC acquired a new position in Equity Residential in the first quarter valued at about $27,000. Voisard Asset Management Group Inc. acquired a new position in Equity Residential in the 4th quarter valued at about $33,000. Massmutual Trust Co. FSB ADV increased its holdings in Equity Residential by 41.9% during the 2nd quarter. Massmutual Trust Co. FSB ADV now owns 525 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $36,000 after purchasing an additional 155 shares during the period. HHM Wealth Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of Equity Residential by 146.6% in the 2nd quarter. HHM Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 550 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $38,000 after purchasing an additional 327 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Richardson Financial Services Inc. purchased a new position in Equity Residential in the first quarter valued at $41,000. 92.68% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.