Q2 2024 EPS Estimates for Equity Residential (NYSE:EQR) Lifted by Wedbush

Equity Residential (NYSE:EQR) – Research analysts at Wedbush increased their Q2 2024 earnings estimates for shares of 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 earn $0.96 per share for the quarter, up from their previous forecast of $0.95. Wedbush has a “Neutral” rating and a $68.00 price target 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.

Several other equities analysts have also recently issued reports on EQR. Barclays dropped their price objective on shares of Equity Residential from $69.00 to $67.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, February 20th. Evercore ISI upped their price target on shares of Equity Residential from $67.00 to $70.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 25th. Truist Financial lowered their price target on shares of Equity Residential from $71.00 to $67.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, April 9th. The Goldman Sachs Group reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $70.00 price target on shares of Equity Residential in a research note on Thursday, February 22nd. Finally, BMO Capital Markets raised shares of Equity Residential from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and upped their price target for the stock from $68.00 to $70.00 in a research note on Monday, April 22nd. Ten analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $67.04.

Equity Residential Stock Performance

Shares of EQR opened at $64.04 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.64, a quick ratio of 0.30 and a current ratio of 0.23. The stock has a market capitalization of $24.31 billion, a P/E ratio of 26.57, a P/E/G ratio of 3.79 and a beta of 0.84. The company’s fifty day moving average is $62.24 and its two-hundred day moving average is $59.93. Equity Residential has a 1 year low of $52.57 and a 1 year high of $69.45.

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

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Cornercap Investment Counsel Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Equity Residential by 2.6% during the 4th quarter. Cornercap Investment Counsel Inc. now owns 7,291 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $446,000 after acquiring an additional 185 shares during the period. Chicago Partners Investment Group LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Equity Residential by 1.5% during the 4th quarter. Chicago Partners Investment Group LLC now owns 13,864 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $815,000 after acquiring an additional 208 shares during the period. Czech National Bank lifted its holdings in shares of Equity Residential by 0.3% during the 1st quarter. Czech National Bank now owns 60,730 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $3,833,000 after acquiring an additional 210 shares during the period. Covestor Ltd lifted its holdings in shares of Equity Residential by 17.3% during the 3rd quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 1,626 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $95,000 after acquiring an additional 240 shares during the period. Finally, US Bancorp DE lifted its holdings in shares of Equity Residential by 0.4% during the 4th quarter. US Bancorp DE now owns 67,535 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $4,130,000 after acquiring an additional 251 shares during the period. 92.68% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, EVP Alexander Brackenridge sold 4,027 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, April 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $65.01, for a total value of $261,795.27. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 69,901 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,544,264.01. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. In other Equity Residential news, EVP Alexander Brackenridge sold 4,027 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, April 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $65.01, for a total value of $261,795.27. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 69,901 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,544,264.01. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, COO Michael L. Manelis sold 1,639 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated 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 owns 31,053 shares in the company, valued at $1,845,479.79. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 10,548 shares of company stock worth $666,351 in the last three months. Corporate insiders own 1.00% of the company’s stock.

Equity Residential Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, April 12th. Investors of record on Monday, March 25th were given a $0.675 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, March 22nd. This is a positive change from Equity Residential’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.66. This represents a $2.70 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.22%. Equity Residential’s payout ratio is currently 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.