Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund Raises Position in Equity Residential (NYSE:EQR)

Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund grew its holdings in Equity Residential (NYSE:EQR - Free Report) by 6.3% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 123,165 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock after acquiring an additional 7,258 shares during the period. Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund's holdings in Equity Residential were worth $8,816,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other large investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Keybank National Association OH grew its position in shares of Equity Residential by 2.0% during the fourth quarter. Keybank National Association OH now owns 7,001 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $502,000 after buying an additional 139 shares in the last quarter. Transamerica Financial Advisors Inc. lifted its stake in Equity Residential by 4.1% in the fourth quarter. Transamerica Financial Advisors Inc. now owns 3,827 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $275,000 after acquiring an additional 151 shares during the last quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC grew its holdings in Equity Residential by 38.8% during the 4th quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 558 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $40,000 after acquiring an additional 156 shares in the last quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc grew its holdings in Equity Residential by 51.6% during the 1st quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 461 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $33,000 after acquiring an additional 157 shares in the last quarter. Finally, MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB increased its position in shares of Equity Residential by 27.6% in the 1st quarter. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB now owns 740 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $53,000 after purchasing an additional 160 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.68% of the company's stock.

Equity Residential Price Performance

Shares of EQR traded down $0.34 during trading hours on Tuesday, reaching $67.15. The company had a trading volume of 1,849,544 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,745,714. The company has a current ratio of 0.20, a quick ratio of 0.20 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.70. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $69.30 and a 200-day simple moving average of $69.74. Equity Residential has a 12-month low of $59.41 and a 12-month high of $78.84. The company has a market capitalization of $25.51 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.64, a PEG ratio of 3.93 and a beta of 0.90.

Equity Residential (NYSE:EQR - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 29th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.95 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.93 by $0.02. The firm had revenue of $760.81 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $769.43 million. Equity Residential had a return on equity of 8.93% and a net margin of 33.11%. Equity Residential's quarterly revenue was up 4.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the business posted $0.93 EPS. Research analysts expect that Equity Residential will post 3.98 earnings per share for the current year.

Equity Residential Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, July 11th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, June 24th will be issued a dividend of $0.6925 per share. This represents a $2.77 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.13%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, June 24th. Equity Residential's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 105.73%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

EQR has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Royal Bank Of Canada boosted their target price on shares of Equity Residential from $75.00 to $76.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. Stifel Nicolaus cut their target price on Equity Residential from $82.25 to $80.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, April 30th. Mizuho reduced 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 report on Friday, May 23rd. Wedbush reiterated a "neutral" rating and set a $75.00 target price on shares of Equity Residential in a research report on Wednesday, May 28th. Finally, Barclays upped their target price on Equity Residential from $79.00 to $83.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Friday, May 9th. Nine analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $79.25.

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.