Equity Residential (NYSE:EQR) Given New $79.00 Price Target at Scotiabank

Equity Residential (NYSE:EQR) had its target price upped by Scotiabank from $78.00 to $79.00 in a report published on Friday,Benzinga reports. They currently have a sector perform rating on the real estate investment trust’s stock.

Several other brokerages have also weighed in on EQR. Royal Bank of Canada decreased their price objective 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. Barclays decreased their price objective on shares of Equity Residential from $83.00 to $79.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Friday, January 24th. Mizuho decreased their price objective on shares of Equity Residential from $78.00 to $74.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Monday, January 6th. StockNews.com raised shares of Equity Residential from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, February 8th. Finally, Evercore ISI raised their price objective on shares of Equity Residential from $74.00 to $76.00 and gave the stock an “in-line” rating in a report on Monday, February 10th. Eleven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Equity Residential has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $78.42.

Equity Residential Stock Performance

Equity Residential stock opened at $71.23 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $27.03 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.19, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.49 and a beta of 0.93. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.72, a current ratio of 0.36 and a quick ratio of 0.13. Equity Residential has a 12-month low of $58.81 and a 12-month high of $78.83. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $70.69 and its 200 day moving average price is $72.73.

Equity Residential Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, January 17th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, January 2nd were paid a dividend of $0.675 per share. This represents a $2.70 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.79%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, January 2nd. Equity Residential’s payout ratio is 99.26%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Equity Residential

In other Equity Residential news, CFO Robert Garechana sold 4,294 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $72.06, for a total transaction of $309,425.64. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 14,108 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,016,622.48. The trade was a 23.33 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, COO Michael L. Manelis sold 9,487 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $72.07, for a total transaction of $683,728.09. Following the sale, the chief operating officer now owns 26,781 shares in the company, valued at $1,930,106.67. This trade represents a 26.16 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 19,763 shares of company stock valued at $1,424,217 in the last ninety days. Company insiders own 1.00% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Equity Residential

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Keybank National Association OH raised its position in shares of Equity Residential by 2.0% during the 4th quarter. Keybank National Association OH now owns 7,001 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $502,000 after buying an additional 139 shares in the last quarter. AdvisorNet Financial Inc raised its holdings in shares of Equity Residential by 25.3% in the 4th quarter. AdvisorNet Financial Inc now owns 722 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $52,000 after purchasing an additional 146 shares in the last quarter. Transamerica Financial Advisors Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Equity Residential by 4.1% in the 4th quarter. Transamerica Financial Advisors Inc. now owns 3,827 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $275,000 after purchasing an additional 151 shares in the last quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Equity Residential by 38.8% in the 4th quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 558 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $40,000 after purchasing an additional 156 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Modera Wealth Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Equity Residential by 6.5% in the 3rd quarter. Modera Wealth Management LLC now owns 3,278 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $244,000 after purchasing an additional 200 shares in the last quarter. 92.68% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.