Holocene Advisors LP Increases Stock Holdings in Equity Residential (NYSE:EQR)

Holocene Advisors LP lifted its position in Equity Residential (NYSE:EQR) by 877.4% during the third quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 65,274 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after purchasing an additional 58,596 shares during the period. Holocene Advisors LP’s holdings in Equity Residential were worth $4,860,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of EQR. Cetera Investment Advisers purchased a new stake in shares of Equity Residential in the first quarter worth about $2,841,000. Massmutual Trust Co. FSB ADV increased its position in shares of Equity Residential by 41.9% in the second 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 last quarter. Mather Group LLC. increased its position in shares of Equity Residential by 388.1% in the second quarter. Mather Group LLC. now owns 781 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $49,000 after purchasing an additional 621 shares during the last quarter. U.S. Capital Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Equity Residential in the second quarter worth approximately $3,893,000. Finally, BDF Gestion bought a new position in shares of Equity Residential in the second quarter worth approximately $6,310,000. 92.68% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms recently weighed in on EQR. Evercore ISI upped their price objective on shares of Equity Residential from $75.00 to $76.00 and gave the stock an “in-line” rating in a research report on Monday, September 16th. Stifel Nicolaus upgraded shares of Equity Residential from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their price objective for the stock from $77.75 to $81.50 in a research report on Wednesday, November 13th. 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 report on Monday, August 26th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price target on shares of Equity Residential from $68.00 to $80.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, September 16th. Finally, Truist Financial increased their price target on shares of Equity Residential from $73.00 to $77.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 29th. Eleven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $77.25.

Equity Residential Stock Performance

Shares of EQR stock opened at $73.81 on Thursday. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $74.01 and a 200 day moving average of $71.57. Equity Residential has a 52 week low of $57.33 and a 52 week high of $78.83. The firm has a market capitalization of $28.01 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 30.25, a PEG ratio of 6.10 and a beta of 0.92. The company has a quick ratio of 0.13, a current ratio of 0.13 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.76.

Equity Residential Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, October 11th. Investors of record on Tuesday, September 24th were paid a $0.675 dividend. This represents a $2.70 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.66%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, September 24th. Equity Residential’s payout ratio is 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.