Norges Bank Makes New Investment in Equity Residential $EQR

Norges Bank purchased a new position in Equity Residential (NYSE:EQR) in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund purchased 34,925,031 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock, valued at approximately $2,201,674,000. Norges Bank owned about 0.09% of Equity Residential at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Rosenberg Matthew Hamilton lifted its position in shares of Equity Residential by 69.2% during the 4th quarter. Rosenberg Matthew Hamilton now owns 440 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $28,000 after purchasing an additional 180 shares during the last quarter. Summitry LLC lifted its position in shares of Equity Residential by 6.3% during the 3rd quarter. Summitry LLC now owns 3,193 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $207,000 after purchasing an additional 189 shares during the last quarter. MAI Capital Management lifted its position in shares of Equity Residential by 5.4% during the 3rd quarter. MAI Capital Management now owns 3,933 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $255,000 after purchasing an additional 202 shares during the last quarter. CI Investments Inc. lifted its position in shares of Equity Residential by 0.6% during the 3rd quarter. CI Investments Inc. now owns 37,510 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $2,428,000 after purchasing an additional 211 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Empowered Funds LLC lifted its position in shares of Equity Residential by 3.1% during the 1st quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 7,489 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $536,000 after purchasing an additional 226 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.68% of the company’s stock.

Equity Residential Trading Down 1.2%

Shares of EQR opened at $65.48 on Friday. Equity Residential has a 12-month low of $57.57 and a 12-month high of $70.31. The company has a quick ratio of 0.18, a current ratio of 0.18 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.77. The firm has a market capitalization of $24.53 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.19, a P/E/G ratio of 5.26 and a beta of 0.76. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $62.80 and its 200 day moving average price is $62.14.

Equity Residential (NYSE:EQR) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 28th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.24 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.33 by ($0.09). Equity Residential had a net margin of 30.63% and a return on equity of 8.57%. The firm had revenue of $779.85 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $781.79 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $0.95 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was up 2.5% on a year-over-year basis. Equity Residential has set its FY 2026 guidance at 4.020-4.140 EPS and its Q2 2026 guidance at 0.980-1.020 EPS. As a group, research analysts predict that Equity Residential will post 4.09 earnings per share for the current year.

Equity Residential Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, April 10th. Investors of record on Monday, March 30th were paid a dividend of $0.7025 per share. This is a positive change from Equity Residential’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.69. This represents a $2.81 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.3%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, March 30th. Equity Residential’s dividend payout ratio is presently 112.40%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

EQR has been the subject of several research analyst reports. Mizuho boosted their price objective on Equity Residential from $65.00 to $66.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, March 6th. Royal Bank Of Canada boosted their price objective on Equity Residential from $67.00 to $69.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 30th. UBS Group boosted their price objective on Equity Residential from $71.00 to $73.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 14th. The Goldman Sachs Group cut their price objective on Equity Residential from $71.00 to $69.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, April 16th. Finally, Piper Sandler reissued a “neutral” rating and set a $72.00 price objective (down from $78.00) on shares of Equity Residential in a research report on Friday. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nine have issued a Buy rating and twelve have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $69.90.

About Equity Residential

Equity Residential (NYSE: EQR) is a publicly traded real estate investment trust that acquires, develops, owns and operates rental apartment properties. Headquartered in Chicago, the company focuses on delivering professionally managed, market-rate apartment homes and related services to renters. Its operations cover a range of property types, including high-rise and mid-rise assets, with amenities and on-site management designed to support resident retention and occupancy.

The company’s core activities include property acquisitions, development and redevelopment, leasing, and day-to-day property management.