DNB Asset Management AS Increases Position in Equity Residential (NYSE:EQR)

DNB Asset Management AS raised its holdings in Equity Residential (NYSE:EQR) by 6.8% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 62,190 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after acquiring an additional 3,964 shares during the period. DNB Asset Management AS’s holdings in Equity Residential were worth $4,312,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the business. BNP Paribas Financial Markets increased its holdings in shares of Equity Residential by 36.6% during the 1st quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 569,829 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $35,962,000 after buying an additional 152,736 shares during the last quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp boosted its position in shares of Equity Residential by 14.5% during the 4th quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 146,587 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $8,965,000 after purchasing an additional 18,556 shares during the period. Royal London Asset Management Ltd. boosted its position in shares of Equity Residential by 13.7% during the 4th quarter. Royal London Asset Management Ltd. now owns 165,650 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $10,131,000 after purchasing an additional 20,010 shares during the period. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. boosted its position in shares of Equity Residential by 5.2% during the 4th quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 551,960 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $33,482,000 after purchasing an additional 27,171 shares during the period. Finally, QRG Capital Management Inc. boosted its position in Equity Residential by 200.9% in the 1st quarter. QRG Capital Management Inc. now owns 77,019 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $4,861,000 after buying an additional 51,423 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.68% of the company’s stock.

Equity Residential Stock Up 0.7 %

EQR stock opened at $71.92 on Wednesday. The company has a market cap of $27.30 billion, a P/E ratio of 29.64, a P/E/G ratio of 4.06 and a beta of 0.87. Equity Residential has a 52 week low of $52.57 and a 52 week high of $72.32. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $68.01 and its 200 day moving average price is $64.39. The company has a current ratio of 0.21, a quick ratio of 0.23 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.64.

Equity Residential (NYSE:EQR) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Monday, July 29th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.47 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.96 by ($0.49). Equity Residential had a net margin of 32.83% and a return on equity of 8.53%. The business had revenue of $734.20 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $735.26 million. During the same period last year, the company earned $0.94 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 2.4% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts expect that Equity Residential will post 3.88 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Equity Residential Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, July 12th. Stockholders of record on Monday, July 1st were paid a $0.675 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, July 1st. This represents a $2.70 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.75%. Equity Residential’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 112.03%.

Insider Activity

In other Equity Residential news, CFO Robert Garechana sold 6,357 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, June 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $69.08, for a total transaction of $439,141.56. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 14,576 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,006,910.08. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Insiders own 1.00% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts have commented on the stock. Truist Financial raised their price target on shares of Equity Residential from $67.00 to $73.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, June 24th. BMO Capital Markets raised shares of Equity Residential from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and lifted their price objective for the stock from $68.00 to $70.00 in a research report on Monday, April 22nd. Morgan Stanley lifted their price objective on shares of Equity Residential from $68.00 to $70.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, May 14th. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their price objective on shares of Equity Residential from $74.00 to $75.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 31st. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price objective on shares of Equity Residential from $66.00 to $69.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, May 31st. Eleven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Equity Residential presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $70.84.

Equity Residential Company Profile

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.