Horizon Investments LLC Buys 234 Shares of Equity Residential $EQR

Horizon Investments LLC boosted its stake in Equity Residential (NYSE:EQR) by 5.0% during the first quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 4,945 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after buying an additional 234 shares during the period. Horizon Investments LLC’s holdings in Equity Residential were worth $354,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. TCW Group Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Equity Residential by 40.4% during the 1st quarter. TCW Group Inc. now owns 83,417 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $5,971,000 after acquiring an additional 23,997 shares during the last quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC raised its position in Equity Residential by 6.3% during the first quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC now owns 3,246 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $232,000 after purchasing an additional 191 shares in the last quarter. U.S. Capital Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its stake in Equity Residential by 39.1% during the first quarter. U.S. Capital Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 86,203 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $6,170,000 after purchasing an additional 24,232 shares during the last quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. lifted its stake in Equity Residential by 11.0% during the first quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 845,820 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $60,544,000 after purchasing an additional 83,788 shares during the last quarter. Finally, PNC Financial Services Group Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Equity Residential by 9.0% in the 1st quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 54,271 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $3,885,000 after purchasing an additional 4,499 shares in the last quarter. 92.68% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Equity Residential Stock Performance

Equity Residential stock opened at $64.11 on Monday. 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 firm has a market cap of $24.48 billion, a P/E ratio of 24.19, a P/E/G ratio of 3.25 and a beta of 0.92. Equity Residential has a 1-year low of $59.41 and a 1-year high of $78.83. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $66.56 and a 200-day moving average of $68.68.

Equity Residential (NYSE:EQR) last released its quarterly earnings results on Monday, August 4th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.99 EPS for the quarter, meeting analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.99. The business had revenue of $768.83 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $770.60 million. Equity Residential had a return on equity of 9.05% and a net margin of 33.22%. Equity Residential’s quarterly revenue was up 4.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $0.97 EPS. Sell-side analysts expect that Equity Residential will post 3.98 EPS for the current year.

Equity Residential Announces Dividend

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

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts recently weighed in on EQR shares. Morgan Stanley decreased their price objective on Equity Residential from $76.50 to $75.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday. Wedbush reiterated a “neutral” rating and set a $75.00 price target on shares of Equity Residential in a research report on Wednesday, May 28th. Stifel Nicolaus set a $80.50 price objective on shares of Equity Residential and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, August 5th. UBS Group reduced their target price on shares of Equity Residential from $84.00 to $76.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, July 15th. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada lifted their target price on shares of Equity Residential from $75.00 to $76.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $77.78.

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.