Equity Residential (NYSE:EQR) Issues FY 2026 Earnings Guidance

Equity Residential (NYSE:EQR) issued an update on its FY 2026 earnings guidance on Thursday morning. The company provided earnings per share (EPS) guidance of 4.020-4.140 for the period, compared to the consensus estimate of 2.510. The company issued revenue guidance of -. Equity Residential also updated its Q1 2026 guidance to 0.940-0.980 EPS.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have issued reports on EQR. Evercore dropped their target price on shares of Equity Residential from $70.00 to $68.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Monday, November 3rd. Piper Sandler set a $78.00 price objective on Equity Residential in a research note on Tuesday, January 27th. Jefferies Financial Group reduced their price objective on Equity Residential from $68.00 to $65.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, November 11th. Stifel Nicolaus set a $78.50 target price on Equity Residential in a research report on Friday. Finally, BMO Capital Markets cut Equity Residential from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating and dropped their price target for the company from $70.00 to $68.00 in a research report on Friday, January 9th. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and twelve have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $69.94.

Equity Residential Price Performance

Shares of EQR traded up $2.23 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $64.00. 3,802,293 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,342,038. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $61.77 and a 200 day simple moving average of $62.73. Equity Residential has a fifty-two week low of $58.38 and a fifty-two week high of $75.86. The stock has a market capitalization of $24.35 billion, a PE ratio of 21.84, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.20 and a beta of 0.76. The company has a quick ratio of 0.45, a current ratio of 0.45 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.75.

Equity Residential (NYSE:EQR) last released its earnings results on Thursday, February 5th. The real estate investment trust reported $1.03 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.04 by ($0.01). The firm had revenue of $781.91 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $786.35 million. Equity Residential had a net margin of 36.20% and a return on equity of 9.97%. Equity Residential’s revenue for the quarter was up 2.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $1.00 earnings per share. Equity Residential has set its Q1 2026 guidance at 0.940-0.980 EPS and its FY 2026 guidance at 4.020-4.140 EPS. As a group, research analysts predict that Equity Residential will post 3.98 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Equity Residential Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, January 16th. Shareholders of record on Friday, January 2nd were paid a $0.6925 dividend. This represents a $2.77 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.3%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, January 2nd. Equity Residential’s payout ratio is presently 91.42%.

Equity Residential News Summary

Here are the key news stories impacting Equity Residential this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Management issued aggressive Q1 and FY‑2026 guidance (Q1 EPS 0.94–0.98 vs. ~0.59 consensus; FY EPS 4.02–4.14 vs. ~2.51 consensus), implying stronger forward earnings than Street expectations — this is the primary driver supporting the stock’s upward move. Earnings Call Transcript
• Positive Sentiment: Company raised or reiterated full‑year FFO/earnings (full‑year FFO/FFO-like metric reported ~3.99 / FY guidance), signaling management confidence in cash flow for 2026. Zacks Coverage
• Neutral Sentiment: Top-line showed modest growth: revenue was up ~2% year-over-year and management cited occupancy/NOI gains, but cost pressures tempered margin improvement — mixed operational picture. Key Metrics Analysis
• Negative Sentiment: Q4 normalized FFO/ EPS (reported $1.03) missed consensus by a penny and revenue (~$781.9M) slightly missed estimates — higher expenses offset some of the NOI/occupancy improvement, which is a near-term drag. MarketBeat Earnings Summary
• Negative Sentiment: Analysts remain cautious on growth; BTIG/Michael Gorman and other coverage maintain neutral/hold views citing mixed fundamentals and limited upside, which could cap the shares absent clear execution on guidance. Analyst Commentary

Institutional Trading of Equity Residential

Hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Scientech Research LLC acquired a new position in Equity Residential during the third quarter worth approximately $241,000. NorthRock Partners LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Equity Residential during the 3rd quarter valued at $282,000. Private Advisor Group LLC boosted its holdings in Equity Residential by 35.6% in the third quarter. Private Advisor Group LLC now owns 4,990 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $323,000 after acquiring an additional 1,309 shares during the last quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC grew its position in Equity Residential by 11.6% during the third quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC now owns 4,351 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $282,000 after acquiring an additional 452 shares during the period. Finally, CTC Alternative Strategies Ltd. acquired a new stake in Equity Residential during the second quarter worth about $270,000. 92.68% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

About Equity Residential

Equity Residential (NYSE: EQR) is a publicly traded real estate investment trust that acquires, develops, owns and operates rental apartment properties. Headquartered in Chicago, the company focuses on delivering professionally managed, market-rate apartment homes and related services to renters. Its operations cover a range of property types, including high-rise and mid-rise assets, with amenities and on-site management designed to support resident retention and occupancy.

The company’s core activities include property acquisitions, development and redevelopment, leasing, and day-to-day property management.