Employees Retirement System of Texas Buys 50,000 Shares of Equity Residential (NYSE:EQR)

Employees Retirement System of Texas lifted its position in Equity Residential (NYSE:EQR - Free Report) by 24.0% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 258,020 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock after purchasing an additional 50,000 shares during the quarter. Employees Retirement System of Texas owned about 0.07% of Equity Residential worth $18,516,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Azzad Asset Management Inc. ADV grew its position in Equity Residential by 4.5% during the fourth quarter. Azzad Asset Management Inc. ADV now owns 33,994 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $2,439,000 after buying an additional 1,461 shares in the last quarter. Ascent Group LLC boosted its position in shares of Equity Residential by 10.0% during the 4th quarter. Ascent Group LLC now owns 19,597 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $1,406,000 after acquiring an additional 1,781 shares during the last quarter. Toronto Dominion Bank boosted its position in shares of Equity Residential by 7.4% during the 4th quarter. Toronto Dominion Bank now owns 182,560 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $13,101,000 after acquiring an additional 12,654 shares during the last quarter. GF Fund Management CO. LTD. purchased a new position in shares of Equity Residential during the fourth quarter worth about $445,000. Finally, Continuum Advisory LLC increased its position in shares of Equity Residential by 38.8% in the fourth quarter. Continuum Advisory LLC now owns 765 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $55,000 after purchasing an additional 214 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 92.68% of the company's stock.

Equity Residential Trading Up 0.1%

EQR stock traded up $0.10 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $70.08. The company had a trading volume of 3,122,806 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,847,166. The stock has a market cap of $26.63 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.76, a PEG ratio of 3.99 and a beta of 0.89. 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 0.36, a quick ratio of 0.36 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.72. The stock's 50 day moving average price is $68.79 and its 200 day moving average price is $70.70.

Equity Residential (NYSE:EQR - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 29th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.95 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.93 by $0.02. The company had revenue of $760.81 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $769.43 million. Equity Residential had a net margin of 34.76% and a return on equity of 9.27%. The firm's revenue was up 4.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $0.93 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Equity Residential will post 3.98 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Equity Residential Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, April 17th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 31st were given a $0.6925 dividend. This is a positive change from Equity Residential's previous quarterly dividend of $0.68. This represents a $2.77 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.95%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, March 31st. Equity Residential's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 105.73%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts have issued reports on EQR shares. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Equity Residential from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Saturday, February 8th. Barclays raised their price objective on shares of Equity Residential from $79.00 to $83.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Friday, May 9th. Wedbush reiterated a "neutral" rating and issued a $75.00 target price on shares of Equity Residential in a research report on Wednesday. Mizuho reduced their target price on Equity Residential from $76.00 to $71.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, May 23rd. Finally, Scotiabank lifted their price target on Equity Residential from $79.00 to $82.00 and gave the stock a "sector perform" rating in a research note on Monday, May 12th. Nine analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $79.50.

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.