Inspire Investing LLC Reduces Position in Equity Residential (NYSE:EQR)

Inspire Investing LLC decreased its holdings in shares of Equity Residential (NYSE:EQR) by 21.1% during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 39,128 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after selling 10,460 shares during the quarter. Inspire Investing LLC’s holdings in Equity Residential were worth $2,713,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD boosted its holdings in Equity Residential by 1.9% in the first quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 20,267,675 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $1,279,095,000 after acquiring an additional 381,236 shares during the last quarter. APG Asset Management US Inc. increased its holdings in 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 during the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Equity Residential by 482.3% during 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 purchasing an additional 5,925,177 shares during the last quarter. Centersquare Investment Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Equity Residential by 5.9% during 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 purchasing an additional 309,796 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Canada Pension Plan Investment Board grew its holdings in shares of Equity Residential by 0.7% during 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 purchasing an additional 34,000 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.68% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Equity Residential

In related news, CFO Robert Garechana sold 6,357 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, June 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $69.08, for a total value of $439,141.56. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 14,576 shares in the company, valued at $1,006,910.08. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Insiders own 1.00% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts have recently issued reports on EQR shares. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their price objective on Equity Residential from $74.00 to $75.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 31st. Piper Sandler increased their target price on shares of Equity Residential from $80.00 to $85.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 31st. BNP Paribas assumed coverage on shares of Equity Residential in a research report on Wednesday, September 11th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $83.00 price target for the company. Wells Fargo & Company cut shares of Equity Residential from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and increased their price target for the company from $69.00 to $77.00 in a research note on Monday, August 26th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group started coverage on shares of Equity Residential in a report on Wednesday, September 4th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $81.00 price target for the company. Twelve research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Equity Residential has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $75.62.

Equity Residential Price Performance

EQR stock opened at $77.08 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.64, a current ratio of 0.21 and a quick ratio of 0.21. Equity Residential has a one year low of $52.57 and a one year high of $78.83. The stock has a market cap of $29.26 billion, a PE ratio of 31.98, a P/E/G ratio of 4.27 and a beta of 0.89. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $72.34 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $67.45.

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). Equity Residential had a return on equity of 8.53% and a net margin of 32.83%. The company had revenue of $734.20 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $735.26 million. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $0.94 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 2.4% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts predict that Equity Residential will post 3.89 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Equity Residential Dividend Announcement

The company 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. This represents a $2.70 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.50%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, September 24th. Equity Residential’s dividend payout ratio is currently 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.