Carronade Capital Management LP Acquires 5,688 Shares of Equity Residential (NYSE:EQR)

Carronade Capital Management LP boosted its position in Equity Residential (NYSE:EQR - Free Report) by 5.2% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 115,314 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock after acquiring an additional 5,688 shares during the period. Equity Residential accounts for approximately 0.5% of Carronade Capital Management LP's portfolio, making the stock its 21st largest holding. Carronade Capital Management LP's holdings in Equity Residential were worth $8,275,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in EQR. SRS Capital Advisors Inc. boosted its position in Equity Residential by 607.8% during the fourth quarter. SRS Capital Advisors Inc. now owns 361 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $26,000 after buying an additional 310 shares during the period. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB purchased a new position in Equity Residential in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $29,000. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC lifted its holdings in Equity Residential by 38.8% in the fourth quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 558 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $40,000 after acquiring an additional 156 shares during the period. Steward Partners Investment Advisory LLC grew its holdings in Equity Residential by 109.5% during the fourth quarter. Steward Partners Investment Advisory LLC now owns 551 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $40,000 after purchasing an additional 288 shares during the period. Finally, Grove Bank & Trust raised its holdings in Equity Residential by 208.1% during the fourth quarter. Grove Bank & Trust now owns 610 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $44,000 after acquiring an additional 412 shares during the period. 92.68% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CFO Robert Garechana sold 4,294 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $72.06, for a total value of $309,425.64. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 14,108 shares in the company, valued at $1,016,622.48. This represents a 23.33 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, CAO Ian Kaufman sold 642 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $72.06, for a total transaction of $46,262.52. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 25,539 shares of the company's stock, valued at $1,840,340.34. This represents a 2.45 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 19,763 shares of company stock worth $1,424,217 in the last quarter. 1.00% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Equity Residential Stock Performance

Shares of EQR stock traded up $0.03 on Wednesday, reaching $70.57. The stock had a trading volume of 2,220,872 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,703,619. The firm has a market capitalization of $26.81 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.94, a P/E/G ratio of 3.99 and a beta of 0.89. The firm's 50-day moving average is $69.19 and its two-hundred day moving average is $71.08. Equity Residential has a 12 month low of $59.41 and a 12 month high of $78.84. The company has a quick ratio of 0.36, a current ratio of 0.36 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.72.

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

Equity Residential Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared 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 was Monday, March 31st. This represents a $2.77 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.93%. This is a positive change from Equity Residential's previous quarterly dividend of $0.68. Equity Residential's payout ratio is 105.73%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts recently commented on EQR shares. Evercore ISI increased their price target on shares of Equity Residential from $74.00 to $76.00 and gave the company an "in-line" rating in a report on Monday, February 10th. Barclays reduced their price objective on shares of Equity Residential from $83.00 to $79.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research note on Friday, January 24th. Truist Financial upped their target price on Equity Residential from $76.00 to $78.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Monday, March 10th. Scotiabank boosted their price objective on Equity Residential from $78.00 to $79.00 and gave the company a "sector perform" rating in a report on Friday, February 14th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus decreased their price objective on shares of Equity Residential from $82.25 to $80.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, April 30th. Ten analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Equity Residential presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $78.71.

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.