Royal London Asset Management Ltd. Increases Position in Equity Residential (NYSE:EQR)

Royal London Asset Management Ltd. lifted its holdings in Equity Residential (NYSE:EQR) by 7.9% in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 187,126 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after purchasing an additional 13,656 shares during the quarter. Royal London Asset Management Ltd.’s holdings in Equity Residential were worth $13,428,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of EQR. Principal Financial Group Inc. increased its stake in shares of Equity Residential by 8.3% in 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 in the last quarter. Empowered Funds LLC increased its stake in Equity Residential by 5.9% during the 3rd quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 6,713 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $500,000 after buying an additional 373 shares in the last quarter. Natixis Advisors LLC increased its stake in Equity Residential by 16.1% during the 3rd quarter. Natixis Advisors LLC now owns 73,699 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $5,488,000 after buying an additional 10,199 shares in the last quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. increased its stake in Equity Residential by 13.8% during the 3rd quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 60,287 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $4,489,000 after buying an additional 7,315 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. purchased a new stake in Equity Residential during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $7,384,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.68% of the company’s stock.

Equity Residential Trading Down 0.5 %

EQR opened at $69.85 on Friday. Equity Residential has a one year low of $59.48 and a one year high of $78.84. The stock has a market capitalization of $26.52 billion, a PE ratio of 25.68, a P/E/G ratio of 3.99 and a beta of 0.91. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $70.79 and its 200 day moving average price is $72.64. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.72, a quick ratio of 0.36 and a current ratio of 0.36.

Equity Residential Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, April 17th. Investors of record on Monday, March 31st will be issued a $0.6925 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 31st. This is a boost from Equity Residential’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.68. This represents a $2.77 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.97%. Equity Residential’s dividend payout ratio is currently 101.84%.

Insider Activity at Equity Residential

In other Equity Residential news, COO Michael L. Manelis sold 9,487 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $72.07, for a total transaction of $683,728.09. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer now directly owns 26,781 shares in the company, valued at $1,930,106.67. This represents a 26.16 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, EVP Scott Fenster sold 5,340 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $72.06, for a total value of $384,800.40. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 35,507 shares in the company, valued at $2,558,634.42. This trade represents a 13.07 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 19,763 shares of company stock worth $1,424,217. Insiders own 1.00% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts have commented on EQR shares. Evercore ISI boosted their price objective on Equity Residential from $74.00 to $76.00 and gave the stock an “in-line” rating in a research note on Monday, February 10th. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price objective on Equity Residential from $77.00 to $75.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, January 24th. Scotiabank boosted their price objective on Equity Residential from $78.00 to $79.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Friday, February 14th. Mizuho cut their price objective on Equity Residential from $78.00 to $74.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, January 6th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus set a $82.25 target price on Equity Residential in a report on Tuesday, February 4th. Ten analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $78.51.

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.