Piper Sandler Boosts Equity Residential (NYSE:EQR) Price Target to $70.00

Equity Residential (NYSE:EQR) had its price objective upped by stock analysts at Piper Sandler from $62.00 to $70.00 in a report released on Monday, Benzinga reports. The firm presently has a “neutral” rating on the real estate investment trust’s stock. Piper Sandler’s price objective would indicate a potential upside of 7.46% from the stock’s current price.

A number of other brokerages have also recently issued reports on EQR. Mizuho decreased their price objective on shares of 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. Evercore ISI upped their target price on Equity Residential from $67.00 to $70.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday. Royal Bank of Canada increased their price target on Equity Residential from $65.00 to $66.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, February 1st. Finally, Morgan Stanley upped their price objective on shares of Equity Residential from $58.00 to $64.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Monday, February 26th. Ten investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $66.61.

Equity Residential Stock Performance

EQR stock opened at $65.14 on Monday. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $61.99 and a 200 day simple moving average of $59.84. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.64, a quick ratio of 0.30 and a current ratio of 0.23. Equity Residential has a 52 week low of $52.57 and a 52 week high of $69.45. The stock has a market cap of $24.68 billion, a P/E ratio of 27.03, a P/E/G ratio of 3.78 and a beta of 0.84.

Equity Residential (NYSE:EQR) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, April 23rd. The real estate investment trust reported $0.93 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.91 by $0.02. Equity Residential had a return on equity of 8.18% and a net margin of 31.70%. The company had revenue of $730.80 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $728.09 million. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $0.87 EPS. The business’s revenue was up 3.6% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts anticipate that Equity Residential will post 3.85 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity

In other Equity Residential news, COO Michael L. Manelis sold 1,639 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated 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 directly owns 31,053 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,845,479.79. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, 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 stock was 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 in the company, valued at $1,384,252.20. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, COO Michael L. Manelis sold 1,639 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, February 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $59.43, for a total value of $97,405.77. Following the sale, the chief operating officer now directly owns 31,053 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,845,479.79. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 3,280 shares of company stock valued at $192,335 over the last 90 days. 1.00% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Equity Residential

Several institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in EQR. Financial Gravity Asset Management Inc. raised its position in Equity Residential by 593.9% in the 3rd quarter. Financial Gravity Asset Management Inc. now owns 458 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $25,000 after buying an additional 392 shares during the last quarter. Bruce G. Allen Investments LLC acquired a new position in shares of Equity Residential during the 4th quarter worth approximately $28,000. Allworth Financial LP increased its position in shares of Equity Residential by 120.8% during the 4th quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 488 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $30,000 after purchasing an additional 267 shares during the last quarter. Voisard Asset Management Group Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Equity Residential during the 4th quarter worth approximately $33,000. Finally, AdvisorNet Financial Inc bought a new position in shares of Equity Residential in the fourth quarter valued at $34,000. 92.68% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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.