Ensign Peak Advisors Inc Boosts Stock Holdings in Equity Residential (NYSE:EQR)

Ensign Peak Advisors Inc boosted its position in shares of Equity Residential (NYSE:EQR) by 17.2% in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 94,557 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after buying an additional 13,888 shares during the period. Ensign Peak Advisors Inc’s holdings in Equity Residential were worth $6,785,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank increased its stake in Equity Residential by 119.8% during the 4th quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank now owns 483,753 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $34,714,000 after buying an additional 263,622 shares in the last quarter. Vert Asset Management LLC increased its stake in Equity Residential by 7.5% during the 4th quarter. Vert Asset Management LLC now owns 150,245 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $10,782,000 after buying an additional 10,472 shares in the last quarter. Mission Wealth Management LP purchased a new stake in Equity Residential during the 4th quarter worth approximately $321,000. Atomi Financial Group Inc. increased its stake in Equity Residential by 8.3% during the 4th quarter. Atomi Financial Group Inc. now owns 3,707 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $266,000 after buying an additional 284 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Keybank National Association OH increased its stake in Equity Residential by 2.0% during the 4th quarter. Keybank National Association OH now owns 7,001 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $502,000 after buying an additional 139 shares in the last quarter. 92.68% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts have commented on EQR shares. Scotiabank boosted their price objective on Equity Residential from $79.00 to $82.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Monday. Royal Bank of Canada upped their price target on Equity Residential from $75.00 to $76.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. StockNews.com upgraded Equity Residential from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, February 8th. Stifel Nicolaus dropped their price target on Equity Residential from $82.25 to $80.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, April 30th. Finally, Barclays upped their price target on Equity Residential from $79.00 to $83.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, May 9th. Ten equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $79.12.

Equity Residential Trading Down 1.8%

EQR opened at $69.62 on Wednesday. Equity Residential has a one year low of $59.41 and a one year high of $78.84. The stock has a market capitalization of $26.45 billion, a PE ratio of 25.60, a P/E/G ratio of 3.99 and a beta of 0.89. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $68.90 and its 200 day moving average price is $70.92. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.72, a quick ratio of 0.36 and a current ratio of 0.36.

Equity Residential (NYSE:EQR) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 29th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.95 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.93 by $0.02. Equity Residential had a return on equity of 9.27% and a net margin of 34.76%. The company had revenue of $760.81 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $769.43 million. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $0.93 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 4.1% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Equity Residential will post 3.98 EPS for the current year.

Equity Residential Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, April 17th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 31st were given a dividend of $0.6925 per share. This is a positive change from Equity Residential’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.68. This represents a $2.77 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.98%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, March 31st. Equity Residential’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 105.73%.

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.