Wellington Management Group LLP Buys 178,660 Shares of Equity Residential $EQR

Key Points

• Wellington Management Group LLP significantly increased its holdings in Equity Residential (EQR) by 312.9%, now owning 235,753 shares valued at approximately $16.9 million.
• Equity Residential's recent quarterly earnings report showed earnings per share of $0.99, matching analyst expectations, with revenue up 4.7% year-over-year to $768.83 million.
• The company announced a quarterly dividend of $0.6925 per share, yielding an annualized rate of 4.3%, despite a high dividend payout ratio of 104.53%.

Wellington Management Group LLP increased its stake in shares of Equity Residential (NYSE:EQR - Free Report) by 312.9% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 235,753 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock after acquiring an additional 178,660 shares during the quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP owned about 0.06% of Equity Residential worth $16,875,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of EQR. Nuveen LLC bought a new position in shares of Equity Residential during the first quarter worth $165,442,000. Northern Trust Corp boosted its position in shares of Equity Residential by 53.1% during the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 6,476,004 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $464,718,000 after acquiring an additional 2,246,555 shares during the last quarter. Adelante Capital Management LLC boosted its position in shares of 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 acquiring an additional 681,356 shares during the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its position in shares of 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 acquiring an additional 499,964 shares during the last quarter. Finally, National Bank of Canada FI boosted its position in shares of Equity Residential by 190.9% during the first quarter. National Bank of Canada FI now owns 674,373 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $48,272,000 after acquiring an additional 442,584 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 92.68% of the company's stock.

Equity Residential Stock Up 1.4%

Shares of EQR traded up $0.89 during midday trading on Monday, reaching $66.18. 1,412,925 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,138,358. Equity Residential has a 52 week low of $59.41 and a 52 week high of $78.83. The company has a current ratio of 0.17, a quick ratio of 0.17 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.75. The company's 50 day moving average is $65.62 and its two-hundred day moving average is $68.20. The company has a market capitalization of $25.28 billion, a P/E ratio of 24.98, a PEG ratio of 3.36 and a beta of 0.93.

Equity Residential (NYSE:EQR - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Monday, August 4th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.99 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, hitting analysts' consensus estimates of $0.99. Equity Residential had a return on equity of 9.05% and a net margin of 33.22%.The business had revenue of $768.83 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $770.60 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $0.97 EPS. The business's revenue was up 4.7% compared to the same quarter last year. Equity Residential has set its FY 2025 guidance at 3.970-4.030 EPS. Q3 2025 guidance at 0.990-1.030 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Equity Residential will post 3.98 earnings per share for the current year.

Equity Residential Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, July 11th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, June 24th were paid a dividend of $0.6925 per share. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, June 24th. This represents a $2.77 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.2%. Equity Residential's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 104.53%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages recently weighed in on EQR. Evercore ISI dropped their target price on shares of Equity Residential from $72.00 to $71.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, August 12th. Mizuho reduced their price target on shares of Equity Residential from $76.00 to $71.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, May 23rd. Morgan Stanley dropped their price objective on shares of Equity Residential from $76.50 to $75.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, August 13th. Barclays dropped their price objective on shares of Equity Residential from $83.00 to $81.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, August 12th. Finally, Wall Street Zen cut shares of Equity Residential from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a research note on Saturday, August 9th. Eight research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and eight have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $77.16.

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.