Ensign Peak Advisors Inc Acquires 13,888 Shares of Equity Residential (NYSE:EQR)

Ensign Peak Advisors Inc boosted its holdings in shares of Equity Residential (NYSE:EQR - Free Report) by 17.2% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 94,557 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock after purchasing an additional 13,888 shares during the period. Ensign Peak Advisors Inc's holdings in Equity Residential were worth $6,785,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. SRS Capital Advisors Inc. increased its holdings in Equity Residential by 607.8% during the 4th quarter. SRS Capital Advisors Inc. now owns 361 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $26,000 after purchasing an additional 310 shares in the last quarter. Steward Partners Investment Advisory LLC increased its holdings in Equity Residential by 109.5% during the 4th 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 in the last quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC increased its holdings in Equity Residential by 38.8% during the 4th quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 558 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $40,000 after purchasing an additional 156 shares in the last quarter. Grove Bank & Trust increased its holdings in Equity Residential by 208.1% during the 4th quarter. Grove Bank & Trust now owns 610 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $44,000 after purchasing an additional 412 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Kapitalo Investimentos Ltda acquired a new stake in Equity Residential during the 4th quarter valued at $51,000. 92.68% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Equity Residential Trading Up 1.3%

Shares of NYSE:EQR traded up $0.91 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $71.77. The company had a trading volume of 5,064,736 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,732,057. Equity Residential has a 12 month low of $59.41 and a 12 month high of $78.84. The company has a current ratio of 0.36, a quick ratio of 0.36 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.72. The stock has a market cap of $27.27 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.39, a PEG ratio of 3.99 and a beta of 0.89. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $68.87 and a 200 day simple moving average of $70.86.

Equity Residential (NYSE:EQR - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 29th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.95 earnings per share (EPS) 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 for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $769.43 million. During the same period last year, the company earned $0.93 EPS. The firm's revenue was up 4.1% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts predict that Equity Residential will post 3.98 EPS for the current year.

Equity Residential Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, April 17th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 31st were issued a dividend of $0.6925 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, March 31st. This is a positive change from Equity Residential's previous quarterly dividend of $0.68. This represents a $2.77 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.86%. Equity Residential's payout ratio is currently 105.73%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms recently weighed in on EQR. Royal Bank of Canada raised their price target on Equity Residential from $75.00 to $76.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Thursday, May 1st. Evercore ISI increased their price objective on Equity Residential from $74.00 to $76.00 and gave the company an "in-line" rating in a research report on Monday, February 10th. Truist Financial increased their price objective on Equity Residential from $76.00 to $78.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Monday, March 10th. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price objective on 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. Finally, Barclays increased their price objective on Equity Residential from $79.00 to $83.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Friday, May 9th. Nine equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $79.69.

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.