Equity Residential (NYSE:EQR) Shares Acquired by BRITISH COLUMBIA INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT Corp

BRITISH COLUMBIA INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT Corp boosted its stake in Equity Residential (NYSE:EQR) by 51.7% in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 65,344 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after purchasing an additional 22,275 shares during the period. BRITISH COLUMBIA INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT Corp’s holdings in Equity Residential were worth $4,531,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Wells Fargo & Company MN grew its stake in shares of Equity Residential by 2.3% in the fourth quarter. Wells Fargo & Company MN now owns 270,089 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $16,519,000 after buying an additional 6,026 shares in the last quarter. US Bancorp DE grew its position in Equity Residential by 0.4% in the fourth quarter. US Bancorp DE now owns 67,535 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $4,130,000 after acquiring an additional 251 shares in the last quarter. TD Asset Management Inc grew its position in Equity Residential by 6.0% in the fourth quarter. TD Asset Management Inc now owns 117,215 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $7,169,000 after acquiring an additional 6,605 shares in the last quarter. Treasurer of the State of North Carolina raised its stake in shares of Equity Residential by 1.0% during the fourth quarter. Treasurer of the State of North Carolina now owns 170,191 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $10,409,000 after purchasing an additional 1,630 shares during the period. Finally, Qtron Investments LLC acquired a new position in shares of Equity Residential during the fourth quarter worth $221,000. 92.68% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

EQR has been the topic of several analyst reports. Truist Financial lifted their price target on shares of Equity Residential from $73.00 to $77.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 29th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised Equity Residential from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their target price for the stock from $62.00 to $83.00 in a research report on Tuesday, September 10th. Scotiabank increased their price target on Equity Residential from $77.00 to $81.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a report on Monday, September 16th. Wedbush lifted their price objective on Equity Residential from $68.00 to $75.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, August 5th. Finally, Piper Sandler upped their target price on Equity Residential from $80.00 to $85.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 31st. Thirteen analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Equity Residential has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $75.97.

Equity Residential Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:EQR opened at $74.31 on Friday. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $73.14 and its two-hundred day moving average is $67.93. The firm has a market capitalization of $28.20 billion, a P/E ratio of 30.83, a PEG ratio of 5.60 and a beta of 0.89. The company has a current ratio of 0.21, a quick ratio of 0.21 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.64. Equity Residential has a 52 week low of $52.57 and a 52 week high of $78.83.

Equity Residential (NYSE:EQR) last posted its 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 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 analyst estimates of $735.26 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $0.94 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 2.4% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts anticipate that Equity Residential will post 3.89 earnings per share for the current year.

Equity Residential Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, October 11th. Investors of record on Tuesday, September 24th will be given a $0.675 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, September 24th. This represents a $2.70 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.63%. Equity Residential’s dividend payout ratio is presently 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.