Picton Mahoney Asset Management Takes Position in Equity Residential (NYSE:EQR)

Picton Mahoney Asset Management acquired a new position in Equity Residential (NYSE:EQR) in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm acquired 2,520 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock, valued at approximately $175,000.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Nicola Wealth Management LTD. raised its holdings in Equity Residential by 9.2% during the 2nd quarter. Nicola Wealth Management LTD. now owns 21,328 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $1,479,000 after acquiring an additional 1,800 shares during the period. Rothschild Investment LLC bought a new stake in shares of Equity Residential during the 2nd quarter valued at $180,000. Maryland State Retirement & Pension System lifted its holdings in Equity Residential by 3.3% during the 2nd quarter. Maryland State Retirement & Pension System now owns 29,430 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $2,041,000 after purchasing an additional 951 shares in the last quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd boosted its stake in Equity Residential by 5.5% in the 2nd quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd now owns 104,454 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $7,243,000 after purchasing an additional 5,468 shares during the period. Finally, iA Global Asset Management Inc. grew its holdings in Equity Residential by 3.7% during the 2nd quarter. iA Global Asset Management Inc. now owns 10,866 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $753,000 after buying an additional 385 shares in the last quarter. 92.68% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Equity Residential Trading Up 1.1 %

Shares of EQR opened at $74.88 on Monday. The stock has a market capitalization of $28.39 billion, a P/E ratio of 31.07, a PEG ratio of 4.17 and a beta of 0.87. Equity Residential has a twelve month low of $52.57 and a twelve month high of $75.11. The company has a quick ratio of 0.21, a current ratio of 0.21 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.64. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $70.23 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $66.02.

Equity Residential (NYSE:EQR) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Monday, July 29th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.47 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.96 by ($0.49). The firm had revenue of $734.20 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $735.26 million. Equity Residential had a net margin of 32.83% and a return on equity of 8.53%. The business’s revenue was up 2.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company posted $0.94 earnings per share. On average, research analysts anticipate that Equity Residential will post 3.89 EPS for the current year.

Equity Residential Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, July 12th. Shareholders of record on Monday, July 1st were issued a $0.675 dividend. This represents a $2.70 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.61%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, July 1st. Equity Residential’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 112.03%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Mizuho increased their price target on shares of Equity Residential from $61.00 to $64.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, May 30th. Morgan Stanley increased their target price on shares of Equity Residential from $68.00 to $70.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, May 14th. UBS Group boosted their price target on shares of Equity Residential from $75.00 to $82.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 18th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price on Equity Residential from $66.00 to $68.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, June 17th. Finally, Wedbush lifted their price objective on shares of Equity Residential from $68.00 to $75.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, August 5th. Twelve investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $72.16.

Insider Transactions at Equity Residential

In related news, CFO Robert Garechana sold 6,357 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, June 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $69.08, for a total transaction of $439,141.56. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 14,576 shares in the company, valued at $1,006,910.08. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 1.00% of the company’s stock.

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.