Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB Buys New Shares in Equity Residential (NYSE:EQR)

Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB purchased a new stake in shares of Equity Residential (NYSE:EQR) in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund purchased 383 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock, valued at approximately $29,000.

Several other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. State Street Corp increased its holdings in Equity Residential by 1.4% in the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 23,922,127 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $1,796,976,000 after acquiring an additional 321,002 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Equity Residential by 1.4% in the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 9,353,944 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $694,441,000 after purchasing an additional 132,638 shares during the period. FMR LLC increased its stake in shares of Equity Residential by 29.0% in the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 7,746,494 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $576,804,000 after purchasing an additional 1,741,840 shares in the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. raised its position in shares of Equity Residential by 8.3% during the 3rd quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 7,745,615 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $576,737,000 after purchasing an additional 591,866 shares during the period. Finally, Canada Pension Plan Investment Board raised its position in shares of Equity Residential by 1.2% during the 2nd quarter. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board now owns 5,001,360 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $346,794,000 after purchasing an additional 60,000 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 92.68% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Scotiabank dropped their target price on shares of Equity Residential from $81.00 to $78.00 and set a “sector perform” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, November 14th. Barclays started coverage on Equity Residential in a research report on Tuesday, December 17th. They set an “overweight” rating and a $83.00 target price for the company. Bank of America cut Equity Residential from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and boosted their price target for the stock from $78.00 to $82.00 in a report on Tuesday, September 24th. BNP Paribas started coverage on Equity Residential in a research note on Wednesday, September 11th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $83.00 price target for the company. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upgraded shares of Equity Residential from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their price objective for the company from $62.00 to $83.00 in a research report on Tuesday, September 10th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have issued a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Equity Residential currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $78.14.

Equity Residential Price Performance

Shares of Equity Residential stock opened at $71.44 on Tuesday. The stock has a market cap of $27.11 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 29.28, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.90 and a beta of 0.92. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.76, a quick ratio of 0.13 and a current ratio of 0.13. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $73.80 and a 200-day moving average price of $72.22. Equity Residential has a one year low of $57.33 and a one year high of $78.83.

Equity Residential Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, January 17th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, January 2nd will be issued a $0.675 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, January 2nd. This represents a $2.70 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.78%. Equity Residential’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 110.66%.

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.