Los Angeles Capital Management LLC Lowers Position in Equity Residential (NYSE:EQR)

Los Angeles Capital Management LLC reduced its position in shares of Equity Residential (NYSE:EQR - Free Report) by 70.7% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 505,913 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock after selling 1,218,429 shares during the period. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC owned about 0.13% of Equity Residential worth $36,213,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Envestnet Portfolio Solutions Inc. increased its position in shares of Equity Residential by 49.9% during the fourth quarter. Envestnet Portfolio Solutions Inc. now owns 4,372 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $314,000 after purchasing an additional 1,455 shares in the last quarter. Intech Investment Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Equity Residential during the 4th quarter worth approximately $355,000. Royal London Asset Management Ltd. lifted its stake in Equity Residential by 7.9% in the 4th quarter. Royal London Asset Management Ltd. now owns 187,126 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $13,428,000 after buying an additional 13,656 shares in the last quarter. Summit Global Investments purchased a new stake in Equity Residential in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $714,000. Finally, Mizuho Securities USA LLC raised its holdings in Equity Residential by 46.3% in the 4th quarter. Mizuho Securities USA LLC now owns 32,359 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $2,322,000 after acquiring an additional 10,235 shares during the last quarter. 92.68% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages have recently commented on EQR. Scotiabank reduced their price target on shares of 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. Stifel Nicolaus lowered their price objective on shares of Equity Residential from $82.25 to $80.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, April 30th. UBS Group decreased their price target on shares of Equity Residential from $84.00 to $76.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, July 15th. Evercore ISI raised shares of Equity Residential from an "in-line" rating to an "outperform" rating and raised their price objective for the stock from $74.00 to $75.00 in a research note on Monday, July 7th. Finally, Mizuho decreased 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. Eight investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Equity Residential currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $78.81.

Equity Residential Price Performance

NYSE EQR traded up $1.39 on Tuesday, reaching $68.37. 1,801,882 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,761,458. The stock has a market cap of $25.98 billion, a PE ratio of 26.09, a P/E/G ratio of 3.47 and a beta of 0.88. Equity Residential has a 12 month low of $59.41 and a 12 month high of $78.84. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.70, a current ratio of 0.20 and a quick ratio of 0.20. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $68.40 and a 200 day simple moving average of $69.27.

Equity Residential (NYSE:EQR - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results 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 8.93% and a net margin of 33.11%. The business had revenue of $760.81 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $769.43 million. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $0.93 EPS. The business's quarterly revenue was up 4.1% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts predict that Equity Residential will post 3.98 earnings per share for the current year.

Equity Residential Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, July 11th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, June 24th were issued a $0.6925 dividend. This represents a $2.77 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.05%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, June 24th. Equity Residential's dividend payout ratio is currently 105.73%.

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.