Russell Investments Group Ltd. Increases Stake in Equity Residential $EQR

Russell Investments Group Ltd. raised its stake in Equity Residential (NYSE:EQR) by 252.9% during the second quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 1,329,615 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after purchasing an additional 952,813 shares during the quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd.’s holdings in Equity Residential were worth $89,731,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Elo Mutual Pension Insurance Co increased its position in shares of Equity Residential by 11.4% during the second quarter. Elo Mutual Pension Insurance Co now owns 36,560 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $2,467,000 after purchasing an additional 3,736 shares in the last quarter. Prudential Financial Inc. raised its holdings in Equity Residential by 725.6% during the second quarter. Prudential Financial Inc. now owns 1,908,429 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $128,800,000 after purchasing an additional 1,677,278 shares in the last quarter. Barings LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Equity Residential in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $3,624,000. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its holdings in Equity Residential by 3.7% in the second quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 4,259,774 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $287,492,000 after acquiring an additional 150,268 shares during the period. Finally, American Century Companies Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Equity Residential by 6.1% in the second quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 2,749,362 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $185,555,000 after purchasing an additional 156,990 shares during the period. 92.68% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms recently commented on EQR. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price objective on shares of Equity Residential from $68.00 to $62.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, November 10th. Stifel Nicolaus set a $79.75 price objective on Equity Residential in a research report on Wednesday, October 29th. Barclays dropped their price target on shares of Equity Residential from $80.00 to $77.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday. Cantor Fitzgerald assumed coverage on Equity Residential in a report on Wednesday, October 1st. They issued an “overweight” rating and a $70.00 price objective on the stock. Finally, Evercore ISI reduced their target price on shares of Equity Residential from $70.00 to $68.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, November 3rd. Eight equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and ten have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Equity Residential has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $70.27.

Equity Residential Stock Up 0.9%

NYSE:EQR opened at $61.64 on Thursday. Equity Residential has a 52 week low of $58.38 and a 52 week high of $78.32. The company has a current ratio of 0.45, a quick ratio of 0.17 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.75. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $61.78 and a 200-day moving average of $65.09. The firm has a market capitalization of $23.45 billion, a PE ratio of 20.34, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.99 and a beta of 0.88.

Equity Residential (NYSE:EQR) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 28th. The real estate investment trust reported $1.02 earnings per share for the quarter, meeting analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.02. The company had revenue of $782.41 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $779.68 million. Equity Residential had a return on equity of 10.30% and a net margin of 37.58%.During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $0.98 earnings per share. Equity Residential has set its Q4 2025 guidance at 1.020-1.060 EPS. FY 2025 guidance at 3.980-4.020 EPS. Analysts predict that Equity Residential will post 3.98 EPS for the current year.

Equity Residential Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, October 10th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, September 25th were given a dividend of $0.6925 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, September 25th. This represents a $2.77 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.5%. Equity Residential’s payout ratio is 91.42%.

About Equity Residential

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.