Equity Residential (NYSE:EQR) Increases Dividend to $0.69 Per Share

Equity Residential (NYSE:EQR) declared a quarterly dividend on Thursday, March 20th, RTT News reports. Investors 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 3.95%. 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% annually over the last three years. Equity Residential has a payout ratio of 187.5% 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 research 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 Stock Up 0.6 %

Shares of EQR stock traded up $0.40 during midday trading on Thursday, reaching $70.17. 1,501,238 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,581,818. The firm has a market cap of $26.64 billion, a PE ratio of 25.80, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.99 and a beta of 0.91. The company has a current ratio of 0.36, a quick ratio of 0.36 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.72. The company’s 50 day moving average is $70.68 and its two-hundred day moving average is $72.71. Equity Residential has a 1 year low of $59.48 and a 1 year high of $78.84.

Insider Buying and Selling at Equity Residential

In other Equity Residential news, CFO Robert Garechana sold 4,294 shares of Equity Residential stock in a transaction that occurred 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 sale, the chief financial officer now owns 14,108 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,016,622.48. The trade was a 23.33 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, COO Michael L. Manelis sold 9,487 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $72.07, for a total value of $683,728.09. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer now directly owns 26,781 shares in the company, valued at $1,930,106.67. The trade was a 26.16 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 19,763 shares of company stock worth $1,424,217. Company insiders own 1.00% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts have issued reports on the company. Evercore ISI increased their price objective on Equity Residential from $74.00 to $76.00 and gave the stock an “in-line” rating in a report on Monday, February 10th. Truist Financial lifted their price target on shares of Equity Residential from $76.00 to $78.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, March 10th. StockNews.com raised shares of Equity Residential from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, February 8th. Stifel Nicolaus set a $82.25 target price on shares of Equity Residential in a research note on Tuesday, February 4th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price target on Equity Residential from $77.00 to $75.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, January 24th. Ten analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $78.51.

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.