Heitman Real Estate Securities LLC Grows Stock Position in Equity Residential (NYSE:EQR)

Heitman Real Estate Securities LLC lifted its position in shares of Equity Residential (NYSE:EQR) by 2,193.2% during the 3rd quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 416,647 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after acquiring an additional 398,478 shares during the quarter. Equity Residential makes up about 1.7% of Heitman Real Estate Securities LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 26th biggest position. Heitman Real Estate Securities LLC’s holdings in Equity Residential were worth $31,024,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in EQR. Tobam increased its position in shares of Equity Residential by 8.6% during the third quarter. Tobam now owns 1,927 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $143,000 after purchasing an additional 152 shares during the period. Checchi Capital Advisers LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Equity Residential by 4.5% during the 2nd quarter. Checchi Capital Advisers LLC now owns 3,522 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $244,000 after acquiring an additional 153 shares in the last quarter. Massmutual Trust Co. FSB ADV grew its holdings in Equity Residential by 41.9% during the 2nd quarter. Massmutual Trust Co. FSB ADV now owns 525 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $36,000 after acquiring an additional 155 shares during the period. UMB Bank n.a. boosted its stake in Equity Residential by 69.6% during the 3rd quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 475 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $35,000 after purchasing an additional 195 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. raised its position in Equity Residential by 32.7% in the second quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. now owns 811 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $56,000 after acquiring an additional 200 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 92.68% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms have issued reports on EQR. BNP Paribas initiated coverage on shares of Equity Residential in a research report on Wednesday, September 11th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $83.00 price objective on the stock. Scotiabank cut their price target on Equity Residential from $81.00 to $78.00 and set a “sector perform” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, November 14th. Evercore ISI raised their price target on shares of Equity Residential from $75.00 to $76.00 and gave the company an “in-line” rating in a research report on Monday, September 16th. Wells Fargo & Company cut shares of Equity Residential from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and lifted their price target for the company from $69.00 to $77.00 in a research report on Monday, August 26th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective on Equity Residential from $68.00 to $80.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, September 16th. Eleven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $77.25.

Equity Residential Trading Down 1.9 %

NYSE EQR opened at $75.24 on Tuesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $28.55 billion, a P/E ratio of 30.84, a P/E/G ratio of 6.22 and a beta of 0.92. Equity Residential has a 52-week low of $57.33 and a 52-week high of $78.83. The company has a quick ratio of 0.13, a current ratio of 0.13 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.76. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $74.10 and a 200 day moving average price of $71.45.

Equity Residential Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, October 11th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, September 24th were paid a $0.675 dividend. This represents a $2.70 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.59%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, September 24th. Equity Residential’s payout ratio is 110.66%.

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.