Dark Forest Capital Management LP Takes $260,000 Position in Equity Residential (NYSE:EQR)

Dark Forest Capital Management LP purchased a new position in Equity Residential (NYSE:EQR) in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund purchased 3,754 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock, valued at approximately $260,000.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Checchi Capital Advisers LLC raised its holdings in Equity Residential by 4.5% in the second quarter. Checchi Capital Advisers LLC now owns 3,522 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $244,000 after purchasing an additional 153 shares in the last quarter. Massmutual Trust Co. FSB ADV lifted its position in Equity Residential by 41.9% during the second quarter. Massmutual Trust Co. FSB ADV now owns 525 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $36,000 after acquiring an additional 155 shares during the last quarter. Mystic Asset Management Inc. boosted its stake in Equity Residential by 3.8% in the first quarter. Mystic Asset Management Inc. now owns 5,450 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $344,000 after acquiring an additional 200 shares in the last quarter. Whittier Trust Co. boosted its stake in Equity Residential by 12.4% in the second quarter. Whittier Trust Co. now owns 1,826 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $127,000 after acquiring an additional 201 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Chicago Partners Investment Group LLC grew its holdings in Equity Residential by 1.5% in the fourth quarter. Chicago Partners Investment Group LLC now owns 13,864 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $815,000 after purchasing an additional 208 shares during the last quarter. 92.68% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages have recently commented on EQR. The Goldman Sachs Group assumed coverage on Equity Residential in a report on Wednesday, September 4th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $81.00 price objective for the company. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their price target on Equity Residential from $74.00 to $75.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 31st. Scotiabank increased their price objective on shares of Equity Residential from $77.00 to $81.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Monday, September 16th. Wedbush lifted their target price on shares of Equity Residential from $68.00 to $75.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, August 5th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target on shares of Equity Residential from $68.00 to $80.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, September 16th. Thirteen research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Equity Residential currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $75.97.

Equity Residential Price Performance

Shares of NYSE EQR opened at $73.97 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.64, a current ratio of 0.21 and a quick ratio of 0.21. The stock has a market capitalization of $28.08 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 30.69, a PEG ratio of 5.60 and a beta of 0.89. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $73.31 and its 200-day simple moving average is $68.12. Equity Residential has a 12 month low of $52.57 and a 12 month high of $78.83.

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

Equity Residential Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, October 11th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, September 24th will be paid a dividend of $0.675 per share. This represents a $2.70 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.65%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, September 24th. Equity Residential’s payout ratio 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.