Equity Residential (NYSE:EQR) Shares Bought by Ethic Inc.

Ethic Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Equity Residential (NYSE:EQR - Free Report) by 51.4% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 39,513 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock after acquiring an additional 13,406 shares during the quarter. Ethic Inc.'s holdings in Equity Residential were worth $2,835,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank lifted its holdings in shares of Equity Residential by 119.8% in the fourth quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank now owns 483,753 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $34,714,000 after buying an additional 263,622 shares during the period. Vert Asset Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of 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 buying an additional 10,472 shares during the period. Mission Wealth Management LP acquired a new stake in shares of Equity Residential in the fourth quarter valued at $321,000. Atomi Financial Group Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of 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 buying an additional 284 shares during the period. Finally, Keybank National Association OH lifted its holdings in shares of 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 buying an additional 139 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.68% of the company's stock.

Equity Residential Stock Up 0.4%

Shares of Equity Residential stock opened at $69.93 on Monday. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $69.00 and a 200 day moving average price of $70.95. The company has a market cap of $26.57 billion, a P/E ratio of 25.71, a P/E/G ratio of 3.99 and a beta of 0.89. The company has a current ratio of 0.36, a quick ratio of 0.36 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.72. Equity Residential has a 1 year low of $59.41 and a 1 year high of $78.84.

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 for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.93 by $0.02. Equity Residential had a return on equity of 9.27% and a net margin of 34.76%. The company had revenue of $760.81 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $769.43 million. During the same period last year, the business earned $0.93 EPS. The business's quarterly revenue was up 4.1% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts expect that Equity Residential will post 3.98 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Equity Residential Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, April 17th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 31st were paid a dividend of $0.6925 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, March 31st. This is an increase from Equity Residential's previous quarterly dividend of $0.68. This represents a $2.77 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.96%. Equity Residential's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 105.73%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts have recently weighed in on EQR shares. Scotiabank upped 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. Royal Bank of Canada upped their target price on Equity Residential from $75.00 to $76.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Thursday, May 1st. StockNews.com raised Equity Residential from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Saturday, February 8th. Barclays upped their target price on Equity Residential from $79.00 to $83.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Friday. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company reduced their target price on Equity Residential from $77.00 to $75.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a report on Friday, January 24th. Ten research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Equity Residential has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $78.94.

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.

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