LVW Advisors LLC Buys 1,938 Shares of Equity Residential (NYSE:EQR)

LVW Advisors LLC lifted its stake in shares of Equity Residential (NYSE:EQR) by 25.9% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 9,414 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after acquiring an additional 1,938 shares during the quarter. LVW Advisors LLC’s holdings in Equity Residential were worth $701,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Fidelis Capital Partners LLC bought a new position in shares of Equity Residential during the 1st quarter valued at approximately $27,000. Voisard Asset Management Group Inc. bought a new position in Equity Residential in the 4th quarter worth approximately $33,000. UMB Bank n.a. boosted its stake in Equity Residential by 69.6% in the 3rd quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 475 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $35,000 after purchasing an additional 195 shares during the period. Massmutual Trust Co. FSB ADV boosted its stake in Equity Residential by 41.9% in the 2nd quarter. Massmutual Trust Co. FSB ADV now owns 525 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $36,000 after purchasing an additional 155 shares during the period. Finally, HHM Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its stake in Equity Residential by 146.6% in the 2nd quarter. HHM Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 550 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $38,000 after purchasing an additional 327 shares during the period. 92.68% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Equity Residential Stock Performance

NYSE:EQR opened at $73.09 on Friday. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $73.89 and its 200 day moving average is $68.79. Equity Residential has a fifty-two week low of $52.57 and a fifty-two week high of $78.83. The firm has a market capitalization of $27.74 billion, a PE ratio of 30.33, a PEG ratio of 6.05 and a beta of 0.89. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.64, a quick ratio of 0.21 and a current ratio of 0.21.

Equity Residential (NYSE:EQR) last released its earnings results on Monday, July 29th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.47 earnings per share 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 analysts’ expectations of $735.26 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $0.94 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 2.4% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Equity Residential will post 3.89 earnings per share 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 paid a $0.675 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, September 24th. This represents a $2.70 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.69%. Equity Residential’s payout ratio is 112.03%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms have weighed in on EQR. Evercore ISI upped their price target on Equity Residential from $75.00 to $76.00 and gave the stock an “in-line” rating in a research note on Monday, September 16th. UBS Group upped their price target on Equity Residential from $75.00 to $82.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 18th. Scotiabank upped their price target on Equity Residential from $77.00 to $81.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Monday, September 16th. Bank of America downgraded Equity Residential from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and increased their target price for the company from $78.00 to $82.00 in a research report on Tuesday, September 24th. Finally, Wedbush increased their target price on Equity Residential from $68.00 to $75.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, August 5th. Twelve research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $75.97.

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.