Equity Residential (NYSE:EQR) Shares Bought by Cascade Financial Partners LLC

Cascade Financial Partners LLC grew its position in shares of Equity Residential (NYSE:EQR) by 219.4% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 9,256 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after acquiring an additional 6,358 shares during the quarter. Cascade Financial Partners LLC’s holdings in Equity Residential were worth $663,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of EQR. Versant Capital Management Inc boosted its holdings in shares of Equity Residential by 51.6% during the first quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 461 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $33,000 after acquiring an additional 157 shares during the period. GKV Capital Management Co. Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Equity Residential during the first quarter valued at $37,000. Zions Bancorporation National Association UT acquired a new position in shares of Equity Residential during the first quarter valued at $48,000. Kapitalo Investimentos Ltda acquired a new position in shares of Equity Residential during the fourth quarter valued at $51,000. Finally, MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB boosted its holdings in shares of Equity Residential by 27.6% during the first quarter. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB now owns 740 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $53,000 after acquiring an additional 160 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.68% of the company’s stock.

Equity Residential Price Performance

Shares of Equity Residential stock opened at $64.11 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 0.17, a quick ratio of 0.17 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.75. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $66.56 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $68.69. Equity Residential has a 52 week low of $59.41 and a 52 week high of $78.83. The stock has a market cap of $24.48 billion, a PE ratio of 24.19, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.25 and a beta of 0.92.

Equity Residential (NYSE:EQR) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Monday, August 4th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.99 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of $0.99. The firm had revenue of $768.83 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $770.60 million. Equity Residential had a return on equity of 9.05% and a net margin of 33.22%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $0.97 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Equity Residential will post 3.98 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Equity Residential Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, July 11th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, June 24th were issued a dividend of $0.6925 per share. This represents a $2.77 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.3%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, June 24th. Equity Residential’s payout ratio is presently 104.53%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms recently weighed in on EQR. Royal Bank Of Canada upped their price objective on shares of Equity Residential from $75.00 to $76.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, May 1st. Wedbush reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and issued a $75.00 price objective on shares of Equity Residential in a report on Wednesday, May 28th. Scotiabank reaffirmed a “sector perform” rating and issued a $77.00 price objective (down previously from $78.00) on shares of Equity Residential in a report on Thursday. Barclays reduced their price objective on shares of Equity Residential from $83.00 to $81.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, August 12th. Finally, Morgan Stanley set a $75.00 price objective on shares of Equity Residential and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Wednesday. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $77.78.

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.