Chicago, Illinois-based Equity Residential (EQR) engages in the acquisition, development, and management of rental apartment properties. With a market cap of $24.5 billion, Equity Residential operates as one of the leading, fully integrated, publicly traded multi-family REITs in the United States.
The real estate major has significantly underperformed the broader market over the past year. EQR stock prices have plunged 11.4% over the past 52 weeks and 11.9% on a YTD basis, compared to the S&P 500 Index’s ($SPX) 16.1% gains over the past year and 9.7% returns in 2025.
Narrowing the focus, Equity Residential has also lagged behind the industry-focused iShares Global REIT ETF’s (REET) 1.7% dip over the past year and 3.1% uptick in 2025.
Equity Residential’s stock prices observed a 1.2% uptick in the trading session following the release of its Q2 results on Aug. 4. Driven by solid same-store revenue growth, the company’s overall topline increased 4.7% year-over-year to $768.8 million. Meanwhile, its comparable net operating income also experienced a notable 2.3% increase. Further, EQR’s normalized FFO (NFFO) per share inched up 2.1% year-over-year to $0.99, meeting Street expectations. Observing the solid momentum, Equity Residential raised its full-year same-store revenue and net operating income guidance’s midpoint.
For the full fiscal 2025, ending in December, analysts expect EQR to report a NFFO of $4 per share, up 2.8% year-over-year. Moreover, the company has a solid FFO surprise history. It has met or surpassed the Street NFFO projections in each of the past four quarters.
Among the 25 analysts covering the EQR stock, the consensus rating is “Moderate Buy.” That’s based on 11 “Strong Buys,” one “Moderate Buy,” and 13 “Holds.”
This configuration is slightly more optimistic than two months ago, when 10 analysts gave “Strong Buy” recommendations.
On Aug. 14, Scotiabank analyst Nicholas Yulico maintained a “Sector Perform” rating on EQR and lowered the price target from $78 to $77.
EQR’s mean price target of $75.42 represents a premium of 19.3% to current price levels. Meanwhile, the street-high target of $81 suggests a potential upside of 28.1%.
On the date of publication, Aditya Sarawgi did not have (either directly or indirectly) positions in any of the securities mentioned in this article. All information and data in this article is solely for informational purposes. For more information please view the Barchart Disclosure Policy here.
