Equity Residential Hikes Dividend by 2.6%: What You Should Know

Equity Residential EQR has announced a 2.6% hike in its annualized dividend. As a result, for the first quarter of 2025, EQR will pay out 69.25 cents per share, up from 67.50 cents paid out in the prior quarter. The new dividend will be paid out on April 17 to the company’s shareholders of record as of March 31, 2025.Based on the hiked rate, the annualized dividend comes at $2.77 per share. At this new rate, the annualized yield is 3.95%, based on the stock’s closing price of $70.17 on March 21, 2025.The residential REIT also announced that its annual meeting of shareholders would be held on June 26, 2025.The latest raise reflects Equity Residential’s ability to generate solid cash flow through its operating platform and high-quality portfolio. Prior to this increase, EQR increased its dividend three times in the past five years, and its payout has grown 3.15% over the same period. Check Equity Residential’s dividend history here.EQR: In a SnapshotEQR is well-poised to benefit from its portfolio diversification efforts in the suburban markets with an affluent tenant base. Healthy demand for its apartments has been aiding occupancy levels in recent quarters.The company’s strategic buyouts, encouraging development pipeline, and focus on technology to drive margin expansion act as tailwinds.Equity Residential has a healthy balance sheet position with nearly $1.95 billion of liquidity as of Dec. 31, 2024. Unencumbered NOI as a percentage of the total NOI was 89.7% in the fourth quarter of 2024.  Further, an A-rated balance sheet renders the company access to the debt market at favorable rates. With financial flexibility and significant unencumbered assets, Equity Residential seems well-positioned to meet its future obligations as well as ride the growth curve.Shares of this Zacks Rank #3 (Hold) company have declined 1.8% over the past three months against the industry’s growth of 2.9%. Image Source: Zacks Investment Research Stocks to ConsiderSome better-ranked stocks from the residential REIT sector are Modiv Industrial, Inc. MDV and Elme Communities ELME.The Zacks Consensus Estimate for Modiv’s 2025 FFO per share is pegged at $1.36, which indicates year-over-year growth of 1.5%. MDV currently sports a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy). You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank (Strong Buy) stocks here.SBRA carries a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy) at present. The Zacks Consensus Estimate for Elme’s full-year FFO per share is 95 cents, which indicates an increase of 1.1% from the year-ago period.Note: Anything related to earnings presented in this write-up represents funds from operations (FFO), a widely used metric to gauge the performance of REITs.Only $1 to See All Zacks' Buys and SellsWe're not kidding.Several years ago, we shocked our members by offering them 30-day access to all our picks for the total sum of only $1. No obligation to spend another cent.Thousands have taken advantage of this opportunity. Thousands did not - they thought there must be a catch. Yes, we do have a reason. We want you to get acquainted with our portfolio services like Surprise Trader, Stocks Under $10, Technology Innovators,and more, that closed 256 positions with double- and triple-digit gains in 2024 alone.See Stocks Now >>Want the latest recommendations from Zacks Investment Research? Today, you can download 7 Best Stocks for the Next 30 Days. Click to get this free report Equity Residential (EQR): Free Stock Analysis Report Modiv Industrial, Inc. (MDV): Free Stock Analysis Report Elme Communities (ELME): Free Stock Analysis ReportThis article originally published on Zacks Investment Research (zacks.com).Zacks Investment ResearchWeiter zum vollständigen Artikel bei Zacks Weiter zum vollständigen Artikel bei Zacks