With a market cap of $26.6 billion, Equity Residential (EQR) is a real estate investment trust (REIT). Headquartered in Chicago, Illinois, the company focuses on the acquisition, development, and management of residential properties located in and around cities.
Companies valued at $10 billion or more are generally described as “large-cap” stocks and Equity Residential fits this criterion perfectly. The REIT owns or has investments in 312 properties consisting of 84,018 apartment units. Its business also includes the generation of rental and other related income through the leasing of apartment units to residents.
The REIT crumbled 11%.5 from its 52-week high of $78.83. Shares of EQR have dropped 1.6%, lagging behind the Fidelity MSCI Real Estate Index ETF’s (FREL) 2.9% increase.
In the long term, EQR is down 2.2% on a YTD basis, trailing FREL's 2.3% gain. However, shares of Equity Residential have surged nearly 12% over the past 52 weeks, surpassing FREL’s 7.8% return over the same time frame.
Despite recent fluctuations, the stock has been trading mostly above its 50-day and 200-day moving averages since last year.
Shares of EQR rose marginally following its better-than-expected Q4 2024 revenue of $766.8 million on Feb. 3. Additionally, its EPS of $1.10 also beat the analysts' consensus by a wide margin. For fiscal 2024, the company acquired 18 new properties, adding 5,373 rental units, and its normalized funds from operations came in at $392.1 million, or $1 per share.
Furthermore, for the full year 2025, EQR projects normalized FFO per share to be in the band of $3.90 - $4 and its same-store revenue growth to be between 2.3% and 3.3%.
Moreover, rival Equity LifeStyle Properties, Inc. (ELS) fell behind EQR over the past 52 weeks, gaining 4.9%. However, ELS shares are up 3.2% on a YTD basis, outpacing EQR.
Despite EQR’s outperformance over the past year, analysts are cautiously optimistic about its prospects. The stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” from the 27 analysts covering the stock, and as of writing, Equity Residential is trading below the mean price target of $77.74.
