Summit Global Investments Boosts Stock Position in Equity Residential (NYSE:EQR)

Summit Global Investments raised its position in Equity Residential (NYSE:EQR) by 63.0% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 6,483 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after buying an additional 2,506 shares during the period. Summit Global Investments’ holdings in Equity Residential were worth $397,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the company. New York Life Investment Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Equity Residential by 78.7% during the fourth quarter. New York Life Investment Management LLC now owns 109,228 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $6,680,000 after buying an additional 48,112 shares during the period. Van ECK Associates Corp boosted its holdings in shares of Equity Residential by 14.5% during the fourth quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 146,587 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $8,965,000 after purchasing an additional 18,556 shares during the last quarter. PGGM Investments purchased a new stake in shares of Equity Residential in the fourth quarter valued at $169,000. Delta Investment Management LLC acquired a new position in Equity Residential in the fourth quarter valued at $932,000. Finally, TAP Consulting LLC lifted its position in Equity Residential by 1.5% during the fourth quarter. TAP Consulting LLC now owns 47,342 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $2,895,000 after buying an additional 692 shares during the period. 92.68% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity

In related news, CAO Ian Kaufman sold 716 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $57.80, for a total value of $41,384.80. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 23,949 shares in the company, valued at $1,384,252.20. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. In related news, CAO Ian Kaufman sold 716 shares of Equity Residential stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $57.80, for a total value of $41,384.80. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 23,949 shares in the company, valued at $1,384,252.20. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CFO Robert Garechana sold 876 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $57.80, for a total transaction of $50,632.80. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 20,933 shares in the company, valued at $1,209,927.40. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 8,860 shares of company stock worth $566,034 over the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 1.00% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms have commented on EQR. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their price target on Equity Residential from $65.00 to $66.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, February 1st. Piper Sandler upped their price target on shares of Equity Residential from $62.00 to $70.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, April 29th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft assumed coverage on shares of Equity Residential in a report on Tuesday, January 30th. They issued a “hold” rating and a $64.00 price target on the stock. Barclays dropped their price objective on Equity Residential from $69.00 to $67.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, February 20th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets upgraded Equity Residential from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and lifted their target price for the company from $68.00 to $70.00 in a report on Monday, April 22nd. Ten equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $67.04.

Equity Residential Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:EQR opened at $65.91 on Monday. The company has a market cap of $25.02 billion, a P/E ratio of 27.35, a PEG ratio of 3.49 and a beta of 0.82. Equity Residential has a one year low of $52.57 and a one year high of $69.45. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $62.45 and its 200 day simple moving average is $60.02. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.64, a quick ratio of 0.23 and a current ratio of 0.23.

Equity Residential (NYSE:EQR) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, April 23rd. The real estate investment trust reported $0.93 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.91 by $0.02. The business had revenue of $730.80 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $728.09 million. Equity Residential had a net margin of 31.70% and a return on equity of 8.18%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 3.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $0.87 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Equity Residential will post 3.87 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Equity Residential Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, April 12th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 25th were given a $0.675 dividend. This is a boost from Equity Residential’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.66. This represents a $2.70 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.10%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, March 22nd. Equity Residential’s dividend payout ratio is presently 112.03%.

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.