Cornercap Investment Counsel Inc. Has $446,000 Stake in Equity Residential (NYSE:EQR)

Cornercap Investment Counsel Inc. grew its holdings in Equity Residential (NYSE:EQR) by 2.6% during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 7,291 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after acquiring an additional 185 shares during the quarter. Cornercap Investment Counsel Inc.’s holdings in Equity Residential were worth $446,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Bruce G. Allen Investments LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Equity Residential in the fourth quarter valued at about $28,000. Financial Gravity Asset Management Inc. grew its position in shares of Equity Residential by 593.9% in the third quarter. Financial Gravity Asset Management Inc. now owns 458 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $25,000 after purchasing an additional 392 shares during the last quarter. Allworth Financial LP grew its position in shares of Equity Residential by 120.8% in the fourth quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 488 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $30,000 after purchasing an additional 267 shares during the last quarter. Money Concepts Capital Corp acquired a new stake in shares of Equity Residential in the fourth quarter valued at about $29,000. Finally, First Horizon Advisors Inc. grew its position in shares of Equity Residential by 229.8% in the first quarter. First Horizon Advisors Inc. now owns 554 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $33,000 after purchasing an additional 386 shares during the last quarter. 92.68% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Equity Residential Stock Up 1.2 %

Shares of EQR opened at $60.40 on Thursday. The stock has a market cap of $22.92 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.45, a P/E/G ratio of 3.52 and a beta of 0.84. The company has a quick ratio of 0.30, a current ratio of 0.30 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.66. Equity Residential has a 12 month low of $52.57 and a 12 month high of $69.45. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $61.42 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $59.62.

Equity Residential (NYSE:EQR) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, January 30th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.82 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.00 by ($0.18). Equity Residential had a return on equity of 7.43% and a net margin of 29.07%. The business had revenue of $727.50 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $725.07 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $0.94 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.0% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts predict that Equity Residential will post 3.86 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Equity Residential Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, April 12th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 25th were paid a $0.675 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, March 22nd. This represents a $2.70 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.47%. This is a boost from Equity Residential’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.66. Equity Residential’s payout ratio is 122.73%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages have recently issued reports on EQR. Morgan Stanley raised their price target on Equity Residential from $58.00 to $64.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Monday, February 26th. Truist Financial decreased their target price on Equity Residential from $71.00 to $67.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, April 9th. Raymond James raised Equity Residential from an “underperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research report on Monday, March 18th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft started coverage on Equity Residential in a research report on Tuesday, January 30th. They set a “hold” rating and a $64.00 target price on the stock. Finally, Mizuho decreased their target price on Equity Residential from $62.00 to $61.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, February 28th. Eleven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Equity Residential presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $65.32.

Insider Activity

In other news, COO Michael L. Manelis sold 1,639 shares of Equity Residential stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $59.43, for a total value of $97,405.77. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer now owns 31,053 shares in the company, valued at $1,845,479.79. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In other news, COO Michael L. Manelis sold 1,639 shares of Equity Residential stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $59.43, for a total value of $97,405.77. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer now owns 31,053 shares in the company, valued at $1,845,479.79. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CFO Robert Garechana sold 876 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,209,927.40. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 3,280 shares of company stock worth $192,335. Insiders own 1.69% of the company’s stock.

Equity Residential Company 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.