Equity Residential (NYSE:EQR) Position Raised by DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale

DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale increased its position in shares of Equity Residential (NYSE:EQR) by 1.6% during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 152,649 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after purchasing an additional 2,463 shares during the period. DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale’s holdings in Equity Residential were worth $10,144,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD raised its holdings in Equity Residential by 1.9% during the first quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 20,267,675 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $1,279,095,000 after purchasing an additional 381,236 shares in the last quarter. APG Asset Management US Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Equity Residential by 0.6% in the fourth quarter. APG Asset Management US Inc. now owns 11,598,251 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $709,349,000 after buying an additional 71,716 shares in the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Equity Residential by 482.3% in the second quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 7,153,749 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $496,040,000 after buying an additional 5,925,177 shares in the last quarter. Centersquare Investment Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Equity Residential by 5.9% in the fourth quarter. Centersquare Investment Management LLC now owns 5,527,431 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $338,058,000 after buying an additional 309,796 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Canada Pension Plan Investment Board increased its holdings in shares of Equity Residential by 0.7% in the first quarter. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board now owns 4,941,360 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $311,849,000 after buying an additional 34,000 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 92.68% of the company’s stock.

Equity Residential Stock Performance

EQR stock opened at $77.77 on Tuesday. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $71.97 and a two-hundred day moving average of $67.27. Equity Residential has a 12 month low of $52.57 and a 12 month high of $78.83. The company has a market capitalization of $29.52 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 32.27, a P/E/G 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 data on Monday, July 29th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.47 earnings per share (EPS) 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 business had revenue of $734.20 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $735.26 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $0.94 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 2.4% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Equity Residential will post 3.89 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Equity Residential Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, October 11th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, September 24th will be issued a dividend of $0.675 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, September 24th. This represents a $2.70 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.47%. Equity Residential’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 112.03%.

Insider Activity

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

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts have issued reports on the company. BNP Paribas assumed coverage on Equity Residential in a report on Wednesday, September 11th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $83.00 price target on the stock. Mizuho upped their price target on Equity Residential from $61.00 to $64.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, May 30th. Evercore ISI upped their price target on Equity Residential from $75.00 to $76.00 and gave the company an “in-line” rating in a report on Monday. Wedbush upped their price target on Equity Residential from $68.00 to $75.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, August 5th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price on shares of Equity Residential from $68.00 to $80.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday. Twelve investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $75.62.

About Equity Residential

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.