Consolidated Investment Group LLC Acquires New Stake in Equity Residential (NYSE:EQR)

Consolidated Investment Group LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Equity Residential (NYSE:EQR - Free Report) during the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund acquired 23,000 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock, valued at approximately $1,646,000.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. SRS Capital Advisors Inc. grew 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 worth $26,000 after buying an additional 310 shares in the last quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc grew its position in Equity Residential by 51.6% during the first quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 461 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $33,000 after buying an additional 157 shares in the last quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC grew its position in Equity Residential by 38.8% during the fourth quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 558 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $40,000 after buying an additional 156 shares in the last quarter. Steward Partners Investment Advisory LLC grew its position 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 worth $40,000 after buying an additional 288 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Kapitalo Investimentos Ltda purchased a new position in Equity Residential during the fourth quarter worth about $51,000. 92.68% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Equity Residential Stock Up 0.2%

Shares of NYSE:EQR traded up $0.13 during trading on Monday, hitting $69.12. The stock had a trading volume of 1,777,227 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,720,326. Equity Residential has a 12 month low of $59.41 and a 12 month high of $78.84. The company has a market capitalization of $26.26 billion, a PE ratio of 26.38, a PEG ratio of 4.03 and a beta of 0.90. The firm's fifty day moving average is $69.31 and its 200 day moving average is $69.99. 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 (NYSE:EQR - Get Free Report) last announced its 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 8.93% and a net margin of 33.11%. The firm had revenue of $760.81 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $769.43 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $0.93 EPS. The business's revenue was up 4.1% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts anticipate that Equity Residential will post 3.98 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Equity Residential Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, July 11th. Investors of record on Tuesday, June 24th will be given a dividend of $0.6925 per share. This represents a $2.77 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.01%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, June 24th. Equity Residential's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 105.73%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms recently commented on EQR. Mizuho reduced 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. Scotiabank reduced their price objective on Equity Residential from $82.00 to $78.00 and set a "sector perform" rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, June 13th. Wedbush reiterated a "neutral" rating and set a $75.00 price objective on shares of Equity Residential in a research report on Wednesday, May 28th. 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. Finally, 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 research report on Wednesday, April 30th. Nine equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Equity Residential has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $79.25.

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.