Vert Asset Management LLC Buys 868 Shares of Equity Residential (NYSE:EQR)

Vert Asset Management LLC increased its position in shares of Equity Residential (NYSE:EQR) by 0.6% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 139,773 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after buying an additional 868 shares during the quarter. Equity Residential accounts for 3.6% of Vert Asset Management LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 11th biggest holding. Vert Asset Management LLC’s holdings in Equity Residential were worth $10,407,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in EQR. Principal Financial Group Inc. boosted its stake in 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 worth $496,040,000 after buying an additional 5,925,177 shares in the last quarter. National Bank of Canada FI lifted its holdings in shares of Equity Residential by 679.0% during the 2nd quarter. National Bank of Canada FI now owns 594,774 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $40,528,000 after acquiring an additional 518,424 shares during the period. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Holdings Inc. boosted its position in shares of Equity Residential by 39.6% during the 2nd quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Holdings Inc. now owns 1,676,445 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $116,245,000 after acquiring an additional 475,124 shares in the last quarter. Sei Investments Co. boosted its position in shares of Equity Residential by 77.5% during the 1st quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 1,061,862 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $67,014,000 after acquiring an additional 463,664 shares in the last quarter. Finally, SG Americas Securities LLC increased its stake in Equity Residential by 793.8% in the first quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 444,791 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $28,071,000 after acquiring an additional 395,029 shares during the period. 92.68% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Equity Residential Stock Up 1.0 %

NYSE EQR opened at $75.63 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $28.71 billion, a P/E ratio of 31.38, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 6.05 and a beta of 0.89. Equity Residential has a 52 week low of $52.57 and a 52 week high of $78.83. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.64, a quick ratio of 0.21 and a current ratio of 0.21. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $74.30 and a 200-day moving average of $69.22.

Equity Residential (NYSE:EQR) last released its earnings results 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 net margin of 32.83% and a return on equity of 8.53%. The business had revenue of $734.20 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $735.26 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $0.94 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 2.4% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Equity Residential will post 3.89 EPS for the current year.

Equity Residential Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, October 11th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, September 24th were issued a dividend of $0.675 per share. This represents a $2.70 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.57%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, September 24th. Equity Residential’s dividend payout ratio is presently 112.03%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts have weighed in on EQR shares. Wedbush lifted their price objective on Equity Residential from $68.00 to $75.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, August 5th. Bank of America cut Equity Residential from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and upped their price target for the company from $78.00 to $82.00 in a research report on Tuesday, September 24th. Evercore ISI lifted their price objective on Equity Residential from $75.00 to $76.00 and gave the company an “in-line” rating in a report on Monday, September 16th. Piper Sandler upped their target price on shares of Equity Residential from $80.00 to $85.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 31st. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their target price on shares of Equity Residential from $68.00 to $80.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, September 16th. Twelve investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Equity Residential has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $75.97.

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.