AGF Management Ltd. Sells 2,487 Shares of Equity Residential (NYSE:EQR)

AGF Management Ltd. cut its stake in Equity Residential (NYSE:EQR) by 6.5% in the second quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 35,970 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after selling 2,487 shares during the period. AGF Management Ltd.’s holdings in Equity Residential were worth $2,494,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Fidelis Capital Partners LLC acquired a new position in shares of Equity Residential during the first quarter valued at $27,000. Massmutual Trust Co. FSB ADV raised 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 purchasing an additional 155 shares during the last quarter. Voisard Asset Management Group Inc. acquired a new position in Equity Residential during the 4th quarter valued at about $33,000. Richardson Financial Services Inc. bought a new position in shares of Equity Residential in the 1st quarter valued at about $41,000. Finally, Cullen Frost Bankers Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Equity Residential during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $50,000. 92.68% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

EQR has been the topic of several analyst reports. Mizuho increased their price objective on shares of Equity Residential from $61.00 to $64.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, May 30th. Scotiabank raised their price target on Equity Residential from $73.00 to $77.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Monday, August 26th. Truist Financial upped their price objective on Equity Residential from $73.00 to $77.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, August 29th. UBS Group increased their target price on Equity Residential from $75.00 to $82.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 18th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group initiated coverage on Equity Residential in a research report on Wednesday, September 4th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $81.00 target price for the company. Twelve equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $74.62.

Insider Buying and Selling at Equity Residential

In other 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 sale, the chief financial officer now owns 14,576 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,006,910.08. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 1.00% of the company’s stock.

Equity Residential Price Performance

NYSE EQR opened at $78.08 on Friday. Equity Residential has a 12-month low of $52.57 and a 12-month high of $78.11. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $71.78 and its 200-day moving average is $67.04. The company has a market capitalization of $29.60 billion, a PE ratio of 32.40, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.27 and a beta of 0.89. The company has a quick ratio of 0.21, a current ratio of 0.21 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.64.

Equity Residential (NYSE:EQR) last issued its quarterly earnings results 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). Equity Residential had a return on equity of 8.53% and a net margin of 32.83%. The business had revenue of $734.20 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $735.26 million. During the same period last year, the firm earned $0.94 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 2.4% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts anticipate that Equity Residential will post 3.89 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Equity Residential Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, July 12th. Investors of record on Monday, July 1st were given a dividend of $0.675 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, July 1st. This represents a $2.70 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.46%. Equity Residential’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 112.03%.

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.