Equity Residential (NYSE:EQR) Plans Quarterly Dividend of $0.69

Equity Residential (NYSE:EQR) declared a quarterly dividend on Thursday, March 20th, RTT News reports. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 31st will be paid a dividend of 0.6925 per share by the real estate investment trust on Thursday, April 17th. This represents a $2.77 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.88%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 31st. This is a 2.6% increase from Equity Residential’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.68.

Equity Residential has increased its dividend by an average of 3.9% per year over the last three years. Equity Residential has a payout ratio of 191.5% indicating that the company cannot currently cover its dividend with earnings alone and is relying on its balance sheet to cover its dividend payments. Equities analysts expect Equity Residential to earn $4.21 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $2.70 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 64.1%.

Equity Residential Trading Up 0.2 %

EQR stock opened at $71.38 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $27.10 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.24, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.99 and a beta of 0.91. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $70.95 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $72.53. Equity Residential has a one year low of $59.48 and a one year high of $78.84. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.72, a current ratio of 0.36 and a quick ratio of 0.36.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms have weighed in on EQR. Stifel Nicolaus set a $82.25 price target on shares of Equity Residential in a report on Tuesday, February 4th. Scotiabank lifted their price target on Equity Residential from $78.00 to $79.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a report on Friday, February 14th. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their target price on shares of Equity Residential from $77.00 to $75.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, January 24th. Mizuho cut their price target on Equity Residential from $78.00 to $74.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, January 6th. Finally, Truist Financial increased their target price on Equity Residential from $76.00 to $78.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, March 10th. Ten equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Equity Residential currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $78.51.

Insider Buying and Selling at Equity Residential

In other news, 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 completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer now owns 26,781 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,930,106.67. The trade was a 26.16 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CFO Robert Garechana sold 4,294 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $72.06, for a total value of $309,425.64. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 14,108 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,016,622.48. This represents a 23.33 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 19,763 shares of company stock valued at $1,424,217 in the last 90 days. 1.00% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

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.