California State Teachers Retirement System Lowers Position in Equity Residential $EQR

California State Teachers Retirement System lessened its holdings in shares of Equity Residential (NYSE:EQR) by 3.1% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 564,246 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after selling 17,987 shares during the quarter. California State Teachers Retirement System’s holdings in Equity Residential were worth $33,375,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors have also recently modified their holdings of EQR. Fulcrum Asset Management LLP purchased a new position in shares of Equity Residential during the third quarter worth about $27,000. Zions Bancorporation National Association UT raised its stake in Equity Residential by 375.2% in the fourth quarter. Zions Bancorporation National Association UT now owns 480 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $30,000 after purchasing an additional 379 shares in the last quarter. DV Equities LLC purchased a new stake in Equity Residential in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $30,000. Harvest Fund Management Co. Ltd bought a new stake in Equity Residential during the third quarter valued at approximately $31,000. Finally, Leonteq Securities AG lifted its position in Equity Residential by 48.8% during the first quarter. Leonteq Securities AG now owns 549 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $32,000 after purchasing an additional 180 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 92.68% of the company’s stock.

Equity Residential Stock Down 0.8%

Shares of NYSE EQR opened at $66.60 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $24.97 billion, a P/E ratio of 28.96, a PEG ratio of 5.34 and a beta of 0.74. Equity Residential has a one year low of $57.57 and a one year high of $71.50. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $67.49 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $64.14. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.77, a current ratio of 0.19 and a quick ratio of 0.18.

Equity Residential (NYSE:EQR) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 28th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.24 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.33 by ($0.09). Equity Residential had a return on equity of 8.06% and a net margin of 27.97%.The business had revenue of $779.85 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $781.79 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $0.95 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was up 2.5% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts expect that Equity Residential will post 4.08 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Equity Residential Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, July 10th. Investors of record on Monday, June 29th were issued a dividend of $0.7025 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, June 29th. This represents a $2.81 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.2%. Equity Residential’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 122.17%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

EQR has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. Truist Financial increased their price target on shares of Equity Residential from $70.00 to $72.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, June 16th. Royal Bank Of Canada downgraded shares of Equity Residential from an “outperform” rating to a “sector perform” rating and lifted their price objective for the stock from $69.00 to $70.00 in a report on Monday, June 8th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reiterated a “hold” rating and issued a $72.00 target price on shares of Equity Residential in a research report on Monday, July 20th. Barclays reissued an “equal weight” rating and issued a $76.00 target price on shares of Equity Residential in a research note on Tuesday, July 14th. Finally, Scotiabank lifted their price target on Equity Residential from $67.00 to $70.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 9th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eight have issued a Buy rating and fourteen have issued a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $71.40.

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.