Equity Residential (NYSE:EQR) Price Target Lowered to $79.00 at Barclays

Equity Residential (NYSE:EQR) had its price target trimmed by Barclays from $83.00 to $79.00 in a report published on Friday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has an overweight rating on the real estate investment trust’s stock.

A number of other equities research analysts have also issued reports on the stock. Royal Bank of Canada dropped their target price on shares of Equity Residential from $83.00 to $79.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Friday, November 1st. Scotiabank decreased their target price on shares of Equity Residential from $81.00 to $78.00 and set a “sector perform” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, November 14th. StockNews.com upgraded Equity Residential from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, January 13th. Mizuho lowered their price target on shares of Equity Residential from $78.00 to $74.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, January 6th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus upgraded shares of Equity Residential from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their price objective for the stock from $77.75 to $81.50 in a research report on Wednesday, November 13th. Eleven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Equity Residential presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $78.36.

Equity Residential Price Performance

Equity Residential stock opened at $68.33 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.76, a quick ratio of 0.13 and a current ratio of 0.13. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $72.10 and its 200 day moving average price is $72.59. The stock has a market capitalization of $25.92 billion, a P/E ratio of 28.00, a P/E/G ratio of 5.36 and a beta of 0.93. Equity Residential has a 1 year low of $57.33 and a 1 year high of $78.83.

Equity Residential Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, January 17th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, January 2nd were given a $0.675 dividend. This represents a $2.70 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.95%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, January 2nd. Equity Residential’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 110.66%.

Institutional Trading of Equity Residential

Several large investors have recently modified their holdings of EQR. AdvisorNet Financial Inc lifted its stake in shares of Equity Residential by 25.3% in the fourth quarter. AdvisorNet Financial Inc now owns 722 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $52,000 after buying an additional 146 shares during the period. Tobam raised its holdings in Equity Residential by 8.6% in the 3rd quarter. Tobam now owns 1,927 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $143,000 after acquiring an additional 152 shares in the last quarter. UMB Bank n.a. grew its holdings in shares of Equity Residential by 69.6% during the 3rd quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 475 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $35,000 after purchasing an additional 195 shares in the last quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. increased its position in shares of Equity Residential by 32.7% during the second quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. now owns 811 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $56,000 after purchasing an additional 200 shares during the period. Finally, Modera Wealth Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Equity Residential by 6.5% in the third quarter. Modera Wealth Management LLC now owns 3,278 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $244,000 after purchasing an additional 200 shares in the last quarter. 92.68% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.