GAMMA Investing LLC Boosts Position in Equity Residential (NYSE:EQR)

GAMMA Investing LLC grew its stake in shares of Equity Residential (NYSE:EQR) by 10.2% during the 1st quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 3,809 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after acquiring an additional 354 shares during the period. GAMMA Investing LLC’s holdings in Equity Residential were worth $240,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of EQR. Bruce G. Allen Investments LLC bought a new stake in Equity Residential during the 4th quarter worth approximately $28,000. Financial Gravity Asset Management Inc. grew its position in shares of Equity Residential by 593.9% during the 3rd quarter. Financial Gravity Asset Management Inc. now owns 458 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $25,000 after purchasing an additional 392 shares in the last quarter. Allworth Financial LP increased its holdings in shares of Equity Residential by 120.8% in the fourth quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 488 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $30,000 after purchasing an additional 267 shares during the period. Voisard Asset Management Group Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Equity Residential in the fourth quarter worth $33,000. Finally, AdvisorNet Financial Inc bought a new stake in Equity Residential during the fourth quarter valued at $34,000. 92.68% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at Equity Residential

In related news, Director Mary Kay Haben sold 3,241 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, April 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $65.48, for a total transaction of $212,220.68. Following the transaction, the director now owns 9,720 shares in the company, valued at approximately $636,465.60. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In related news, Director Mary Kay Haben sold 3,241 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, April 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $65.48, for a total value of $212,220.68. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 9,720 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $636,465.60. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Alexander Brackenridge sold 4,027 shares of Equity Residential stock in a transaction on Wednesday, April 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $65.01, for a total transaction of $261,795.27. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 69,901 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,544,264.01. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 1.00% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have weighed in on EQR shares. Evercore ISI lowered Equity Residential from an “outperform” rating to an “in-line” rating and set a $70.00 target price on the stock. in a research note on Monday, May 13th. Morgan Stanley upped 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. UBS Group lifted their target price on shares of Equity Residential from $73.00 to $75.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, May 14th. BMO Capital Markets raised shares of Equity Residential from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and increased their price target for the stock from $68.00 to $70.00 in a report on Monday, April 22nd. Finally, Piper Sandler lifted their price objective on shares of Equity Residential from $62.00 to $70.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, April 29th. Twelve analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six 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 $68.09.

Equity Residential Price Performance

Shares of Equity Residential stock opened at $67.85 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.64, a current ratio of 0.23 and a quick ratio of 0.23. Equity Residential has a one year low of $52.57 and a one year high of $69.45. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $65.21 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $62.42. The stock has a market capitalization of $25.75 billion, a P/E ratio of 28.15, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.88 and a beta of 0.85.

Equity Residential (NYSE:EQR) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, April 23rd. The real estate investment trust reported $0.93 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.91 by $0.02. Equity Residential had a net margin of 31.70% and a return on equity of 8.18%. The company had revenue of $730.80 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $728.09 million. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $0.87 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 3.6% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts forecast that Equity Residential will post 3.89 EPS for the current year.

Equity Residential Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, July 12th. Stockholders of record on Monday, July 1st will be paid a dividend of $0.675 per share. This represents a $2.70 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.98%. Equity Residential’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 112.03%.

Equity Residential 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.