Equity Residential $EQR Stake Reduced by The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company

The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company trimmed its holdings in Equity Residential (NYSE:EQR) by 9.4% in the second quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 462,623 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after selling 47,852 shares during the quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company owned 0.12% of Equity Residential worth $31,426,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in EQR. California State Teachers Retirement System raised its holdings in shares of Equity Residential by 6,638.4% in the 2nd quarter. California State Teachers Retirement System now owns 38,021,100 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $2,582,773,000 after purchasing an additional 37,456,854 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new position in Equity Residential in the fourth quarter worth approximately $2,201,674,000. Cohen & Steers Inc. grew its position in Equity Residential by 227.7% in the fourth quarter. Cohen & Steers Inc. now owns 7,405,502 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $466,869,000 after buying an additional 5,145,442 shares during the last quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC increased its holdings in shares of Equity Residential by 5,893.5% in the second quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 4,335,122 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $294,485,000 after buying an additional 4,262,792 shares in the last quarter. Finally, UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC increased its holdings in shares of Equity Residential by 876.0% in the third quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC now owns 4,500,885 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $291,342,000 after buying an additional 4,039,752 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.68% of the company’s stock.

Equity Residential Stock Performance

The company has a 50 day moving average price of $66.16 and a 200 day moving average price of $64.60. Equity Residential has a 12-month low of $57.57 and a 12-month high of $71.50. The stock has a market cap of $23.88 billion, a P/E ratio of 27.69, a PEG ratio of 5.53 and a beta of 0.73. The company has a current ratio of 0.19, a quick ratio of 0.19 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.77.

Equity Residential (NYSE:EQR) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 22nd. The real estate investment trust reported $1.02 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.01 by $0.01. Equity Residential had a net margin of 27.97% and a return on equity of 8.06%. The firm had revenue of $785.05 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $787.28 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $0.99 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 2.1% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts predict that Equity Residential will post 4.08 earnings per share for the current year.

Equity Residential Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, July 10th. Investors of record on Monday, June 29th were paid a dividend of $0.7025 per share. This represents a $2.81 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.4%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, June 29th. Equity Residential’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 122.17%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts have recently commented on EQR shares. Mizuho increased their price objective on Equity Residential from $66.00 to $70.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, June 10th. Nordea Equity Research raised Equity Residential to a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 27th. Evercore boosted their target price on Equity Residential from $70.00 to $71.00 in a research report on Monday, June 8th. Stifel Nicolaus upped their target price on Equity Residential from $78.25 to $79.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, May 27th. Finally, Barclays reiterated an “equal weight” rating and issued a $76.00 price target on shares of Equity Residential in a research report on Tuesday, July 14th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eight have assigned a Buy rating and fourteen have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $71.40.

Equity Residential Company Profile

Equity Residential (NYSE:EQR) is a real estate investment trust that owns, operates and develops rental apartment communities. The company focuses on providing housing in large, economically diverse metropolitan areas where demand for apartment living is supported by employment, population growth and limited housing supply.

Its portfolio primarily serves residents in major U.S. markets, including Boston, New York, Washington, DC, Southern California, Seattle and Denver. Equity Residential’s activities include leasing apartment homes, managing residential communities and providing resident services and property amenities.

The company traces its roots to 1969 and was founded by real estate investor Samuel Zell.