GF Fund Management CO. LTD. Purchases New Position in Equity Residential (NYSE:EQR)

GF Fund Management CO. LTD. acquired a new stake in Equity Residential (NYSE:EQR - Free Report) in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm acquired 6,201 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock, valued at approximately $445,000.

Several other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of EQR. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank raised 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 worth $34,714,000 after buying an additional 263,622 shares during the period. Vert Asset Management LLC raised 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 worth $10,782,000 after buying an additional 10,472 shares during the period. Mission Wealth Management LP purchased a new stake in shares of Equity Residential in the fourth quarter worth approximately $321,000. Atomi Financial Group Inc. raised 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 worth $266,000 after buying an additional 284 shares during the period. Finally, Keybank National Association OH raised 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 worth $502,000 after buying an additional 139 shares during the period. 92.68% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Equity Residential Stock Down 0.4%

Shares of NYSE:EQR traded down $0.31 on Friday, reaching $69.67. The company had a trading volume of 387,852 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,723,104. Equity Residential has a 52-week low of $59.41 and a 52-week high of $78.84. The firm's 50 day simple moving average is $68.79 and its 200-day simple moving average is $70.70. The firm has a market capitalization of $26.47 billion, a PE ratio of 25.62, a PEG 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 (NYSE:EQR - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data 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. The firm had revenue of $760.81 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $769.43 million. Equity Residential had a return on equity of 9.27% and a net margin of 34.76%. The business's quarterly revenue was up 4.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $0.93 EPS. As a group, analysts expect that Equity Residential will post 3.98 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Equity Residential Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, April 17th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 31st were given a $0.6925 dividend. This is a boost from Equity Residential's previous quarterly dividend of $0.68. The ex-dividend date was Monday, March 31st. This represents a $2.77 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.98%. Equity Residential's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 105.73%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts have recently weighed in on EQR shares. Wedbush reiterated a "neutral" rating and issued a $75.00 price target on shares of Equity Residential in a report on Wednesday. Stifel Nicolaus reduced their price objective on Equity Residential from $82.25 to $80.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, April 30th. Wall Street Zen upgraded Equity Residential from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Saturday, February 8th. Mizuho reduced their price objective on Equity Residential from $76.00 to $71.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a report on Friday, May 23rd. Finally, Scotiabank raised their price objective on Equity Residential from $79.00 to $82.00 and gave the stock a "sector perform" rating in a report on Monday, May 12th. Nine research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Equity Residential presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $79.50.

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.