Equity Residential $EQR Shares Sold by Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership

Key Points

• Arrowstreet Capital cut its Equity Residential stake by 45% in the first quarter, selling 208,439 shares and retaining 254,885 shares valued at approximately $15.1 million. Institutional investors and hedge funds collectively own 92.68% of EQR.
• Analysts maintain a generally neutral outlook, with 14 Hold, eight Buy and one Strong Buy ratings. The average price target is $71.40, compared with the shares’ recent price of $67.18.
• Equity Residential reported quarterly EPS of $0.24, below the $0.33 consensus estimate, while revenue rose 2.5% year over year to $779.85 million. The REIT also paid a quarterly dividend of $0.7025, equivalent to a 4.2% annualized yield.

Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership trimmed its stake in shares of Equity Residential (NYSE:EQR - Free Report) by 45.0% during the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 254,885 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock after selling 208,439 shares during the quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership owned about 0.07% of Equity Residential worth $15,076,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Insigneo Advisory Services LLC boosted its position in shares of Equity Residential by 4.9% in the 4th quarter. Insigneo Advisory Services LLC now owns 3,543 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $223,000 after purchasing an additional 165 shares during the period. Cetera Investment Advisers lifted its stake in Equity Residential by 0.3% during the first quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers now owns 61,177 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $3,619,000 after buying an additional 171 shares in the last quarter. Leonteq Securities AG lifted its stake in Equity Residential by 48.8% during the first quarter. Leonteq Securities AG now owns 549 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $32,000 after buying an additional 180 shares in the last quarter. Frank Rimerman Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Equity Residential by 4.2% in the first quarter. Frank Rimerman Advisors LLC now owns 4,990 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $295,000 after buying an additional 201 shares during the period. Finally, Empowered Funds LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Equity Residential by 2.3% in the fourth quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 9,165 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $571,000 after buying an additional 204 shares during the period. 92.68% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

EQR has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reaffirmed a "hold" rating and issued a $72.00 price objective on shares of Equity Residential in a research note on Monday, July 20th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their target price on Equity Residential from $71.00 to $72.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Tuesday, May 5th. Royal Bank Of Canada lowered Equity Residential from an "outperform" rating to a "sector perform" rating and increased their target price for the company from $69.00 to $70.00 in a report on Monday, June 8th. BNP Paribas Exane raised their target price on Equity Residential from $68.00 to $70.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Monday, May 18th. Finally, Truist Financial lifted their price target on Equity Residential from $70.00 to $72.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Tuesday, June 16th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eight have given a Buy rating and fourteen have assigned a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $71.40.

Equity Residential Trading Down 2.4%

Shares of NYSE:EQR opened at $67.18 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $25.19 billion, a PE ratio of 29.21, a P/E/G ratio of 5.48 and a beta of 0.74. Equity Residential has a 1 year low of $57.57 and a 1 year high of $71.50. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $67.48 and a 200 day moving average price of $64.13. The company has a current ratio of 0.19, a quick ratio of 0.18 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.77.

Equity Residential (NYSE:EQR - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 28th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.24 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $0.33 by ($0.09). Equity Residential had a return on equity of 8.06% and a net margin of 27.97%.The company had revenue of $779.85 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $781.79 million. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $0.95 EPS. Equity Residential's quarterly revenue was up 2.5% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts expect that Equity Residential will post 4.08 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Equity Residential Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, July 10th. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 29th were paid a $0.7025 dividend. This represents a $2.81 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.2%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, June 29th. Equity Residential's payout ratio is presently 122.17%.

Equity Residential Company Profile

Equity Residential NYSE: EQR is a publicly traded real estate investment trust that acquires, develops, owns and operates rental apartment properties. Headquartered in Chicago, the company focuses on delivering professionally managed, market-rate apartment homes and related services to renters. Its operations cover a range of property types, including high-rise and mid-rise assets, with amenities and on-site management designed to support resident retention and occupancy.

The company's core activities include property acquisitions, development and redevelopment, leasing, and day-to-day property management.

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