American Assets Investment Management LLC Sells 88,423 Shares of Equity Residential (NYSE:EQR)

Key Points

• American Assets Investment Management LLC reduced its stake in Equity Residential (NYSE:EQR) by 88.4% in the first quarter, resulting in ownership of only 11,577 shares, valued at approximately $829,000.
• Equity Residential’s stock has seen varied analyst ratings, with some predicting an average target price of $78.81 and others adjusting their ratings to "buy" or "outperform."
• The company recently announced a quarterly dividend of $0.6925, translating to an annualized yield of 4.24%, despite a high dividend payout ratio of 105.73%.

American Assets Investment Management LLC decreased its position in Equity Residential (NYSE:EQR - Free Report) by 88.4% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 11,577 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock after selling 88,423 shares during the quarter. American Assets Investment Management LLC's holdings in Equity Residential were worth $829,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other large investors have also made changes to their positions in EQR. Northern Trust Corp grew its stake in shares of Equity Residential by 53.1% in the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 6,476,004 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $464,718,000 after buying an additional 2,246,555 shares in the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. boosted its position in Equity Residential by 12.0% during the fourth quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 6,522,442 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $468,050,000 after purchasing an additional 696,343 shares during the period. Adelante Capital Management LLC boosted its position in Equity Residential by 172.1% during the fourth quarter. Adelante Capital Management LLC now owns 1,077,337 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $77,310,000 after purchasing an additional 681,356 shares during the period. Lasalle Investment Management Securities LLC boosted its position in Equity Residential by 79.1% during the fourth quarter. Lasalle Investment Management Securities LLC now owns 1,161,137 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $83,323,000 after purchasing an additional 512,723 shares during the period. Finally, GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its position in Equity Residential by 7,177.2% during the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 506,930 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $36,286,000 after purchasing an additional 499,964 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 92.68% of the company's stock.

Equity Residential Trading Down 0.7%

Equity Residential stock traded down $0.45 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $62.75. The stock had a trading volume of 3,720,115 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,889,863. The stock has a market cap of $23.84 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.95, a P/E/G ratio of 3.24 and a beta of 0.92. The business's 50 day simple moving average is $67.70 and its 200-day simple moving average is $69.11. The company has a quick ratio of 0.20, a current ratio of 0.20 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.70. Equity Residential has a one year low of $59.41 and a one year high of $78.83.

Equity Residential Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, July 11th. Investors of record on Tuesday, June 24th were paid a dividend of $0.6925 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, June 24th. This represents a $2.77 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.4%. Equity Residential's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 105.73%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts have issued reports on the company. UBS Group decreased their target price on Equity Residential from $84.00 to $76.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, July 15th. Scotiabank decreased their target price on Equity Residential from $82.00 to $78.00 and set a "sector perform" rating for the company in a research report on Friday, June 13th. Mizuho decreased their target price on Equity Residential from $76.00 to $71.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research report on Friday, May 23rd. Royal Bank Of Canada increased their price objective on Equity Residential from $75.00 to $76.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus reduced their price objective on Equity Residential from $82.25 to $80.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, April 30th. Eight research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $78.40.

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.