Equity Residential (NYSE:EQR) Issues Quarterly Earnings Results, Beats Estimates By $0.02 EPS

Equity Residential (NYSE:EQR) posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday. The real estate investment trust reported $0.93 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.91 by $0.02, RTT News reports. The firm had revenue of $730.80 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $728.09 million. Equity Residential had a return on equity of 7.43% and a net margin of 29.07%. The firm’s revenue was up 3.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $0.87 EPS. Equity Residential updated its Q2 guidance to $0.92-0.96 EPS.

Equity Residential Stock Up 0.9 %

Equity Residential stock traded up $0.55 during trading hours on Tuesday, hitting $63.09. The stock had a trading volume of 2,479,404 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,073,714. The company has a quick ratio of 0.30, a current ratio of 0.30 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.66. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $61.58 and its 200-day moving average price is $59.71. Equity Residential has a 12-month low of $52.57 and a 12-month high of $69.45. The stock has a market capitalization of $23.91 billion, a P/E ratio of 28.43, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.57 and a beta of 0.84.

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 paid a dividend of $0.675 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, March 22nd. This represents a $2.70 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.28%. This is a positive change from Equity Residential’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.66. Equity Residential’s payout ratio is presently 122.73%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have issued reports on EQR shares. BMO Capital Markets raised Equity Residential from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and increased their price target for the company from $68.00 to $70.00 in a research report on Monday. Mizuho reduced their price objective on Equity Residential from $62.00 to $61.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, February 28th. Raymond James raised Equity Residential from an “underperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a report on Monday, March 18th. The Goldman Sachs Group reissued a “buy” rating and set a $70.00 price target on shares of Equity Residential in a research report on Thursday, February 22nd. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft started coverage on Equity Residential in a report on Tuesday, January 30th. They issued a “hold” rating and a $64.00 price target for the company. Ten equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $65.75.

Insider Activity

In other Equity Residential news, COO Michael L. Manelis sold 1,639 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $59.43, for a total value of $97,405.77. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer now directly owns 31,053 shares in the company, valued at $1,845,479.79. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. In other Equity Residential news, CAO Ian Kaufman sold 716 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $57.80, for a total transaction of $41,384.80. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 23,949 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,384,252.20. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, COO Michael L. Manelis sold 1,639 shares of Equity Residential stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $59.43, for a total transaction of $97,405.77. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer now owns 31,053 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,845,479.79. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 3,280 shares of company stock valued at $192,335 over the last three months. Insiders own 1.00% of the company’s stock.

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.