Mufg Securities Americas Inc. Acquires Shares of 5,041 Equity Residential (NYSE:EQR)

Mufg Securities Americas Inc. bought a new position in Equity Residential (NYSE:EQR - Free Report) in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm bought 5,041 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock, valued at approximately $362,000.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in EQR. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank boosted its holdings in shares of Equity Residential by 119.8% during the fourth quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank now owns 483,753 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $34,714,000 after purchasing an additional 263,622 shares during the period. Vert Asset Management LLC lifted its stake in Equity Residential by 7.5% in the fourth quarter. Vert Asset Management LLC now owns 150,245 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $10,782,000 after acquiring an additional 10,472 shares during the last quarter. Mission Wealth Management LP acquired a new stake in Equity Residential in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $321,000. Atomi Financial Group Inc. lifted its stake in Equity Residential by 8.3% in the fourth quarter. Atomi Financial Group Inc. now owns 3,707 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $266,000 after acquiring an additional 284 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Keybank National Association OH lifted its stake in Equity Residential by 2.0% in the fourth quarter. Keybank National Association OH now owns 7,001 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $502,000 after acquiring an additional 139 shares during the last quarter. 92.68% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts have issued reports on the stock. Scotiabank lifted their target price on shares of Equity Residential from $79.00 to $82.00 and gave the company a "sector perform" rating in a research note on Monday, May 12th. StockNews.com raised shares of Equity Residential from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Saturday, February 8th. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price target on shares of Equity Residential from $77.00 to $75.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, January 24th. Barclays lifted their price target on shares of Equity Residential from $79.00 to $83.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Friday, May 9th. Finally, Truist Financial lifted their price target on shares of Equity Residential from $76.00 to $78.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Monday, March 10th. Nine equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $79.69.

Equity Residential Price Performance

Shares of Equity Residential stock traded down $0.22 during trading on Tuesday, hitting $71.13. 1,355,695 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,730,715. The company has a quick ratio of 0.36, a current ratio of 0.36 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.72. The stock has a market cap of $27.03 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.15, a PEG ratio of 3.99 and a beta of 0.89. The firm's fifty day moving average is $68.92 and its 200-day moving average is $70.86. Equity Residential has a 52 week low of $59.41 and a 52 week high of $78.84.

Equity Residential (NYSE:EQR - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 29th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.95 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.93 by $0.02. Equity Residential had a return on equity of 9.27% and a net margin of 34.76%. The business had revenue of $760.81 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $769.43 million. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $0.93 EPS. The business's revenue was up 4.1% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts expect that Equity Residential will post 3.98 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Equity Residential Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, April 17th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 31st were given a $0.6925 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, March 31st. This represents a $2.77 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.89%. This is a positive change from Equity Residential's previous quarterly dividend of $0.68. Equity Residential's dividend payout ratio is currently 105.73%.

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.