Contravisory Investment Management Inc. Decreases Stock Position in Equity Residential (NYSE:EQR)

Contravisory Investment Management Inc. lessened its stake in Equity Residential (NYSE:EQR - Free Report) by 4.9% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 98,767 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock after selling 5,105 shares during the period. Contravisory Investment Management Inc.'s holdings in Equity Residential were worth $7,070,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of EQR. Norges Bank bought a new stake in Equity Residential in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $2,493,426,000. APG Asset Management US Inc. increased its stake in shares of Equity Residential by 0.5% in the fourth quarter. APG Asset Management US Inc. now owns 11,664,576 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $837,050,000 after buying an additional 57,660 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in Equity Residential by 1.8% during the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 9,519,627 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $681,594,000 after buying an additional 165,683 shares during the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. boosted its position in Equity Residential by 2.0% during the 4th quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 7,897,863 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $566,749,000 after buying an additional 152,248 shares during the period. Finally, Invesco Ltd. grew its holdings in Equity Residential by 12.0% in the 4th quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 6,522,442 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $468,050,000 after acquiring an additional 696,343 shares during the last quarter. 92.68% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Equity Residential Stock Down 0.2%

Shares of EQR traded down $0.15 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $68.31. The company had a trading volume of 620,688 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,711,927. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.72, a quick ratio of 0.36 and a current ratio of 0.36. The company has a market capitalization of $25.95 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.13, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.99 and a beta of 0.90. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $68.58 and a 200 day moving average price of $70.54. Equity Residential has a 52 week low of $59.41 and a 52 week high of $78.84.

Equity Residential (NYSE:EQR - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 29th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.95 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating 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 business had revenue of $760.81 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $769.43 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $0.93 earnings per share. The firm's quarterly revenue was up 4.1% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Equity Residential will post 3.98 EPS for the current year.

Equity Residential Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, April 17th. Investors of record on Monday, March 31st were given a dividend of $0.6925 per share. This represents a $2.77 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.05%. This is an increase from Equity Residential's previous quarterly dividend of $0.68. The ex-dividend date was Monday, March 31st. Equity Residential's dividend payout ratio is 105.73%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts have recently commented on the stock. Mizuho lowered their price objective on shares of Equity Residential from $76.00 to $71.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research note on Friday, May 23rd. Barclays upped their price target on Equity Residential from $79.00 to $83.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Friday, May 9th. Truist Financial lifted their price objective on Equity Residential from $76.00 to $78.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Monday, March 10th. Evercore ISI upped their target price on Equity Residential from $74.00 to $76.00 and gave the company an "in-line" rating in a report on Monday, February 10th. Finally, Wall Street Zen raised Equity Residential from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Saturday, February 8th. Nine analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Equity Residential presently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $79.50.

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.