Equity Residential (NYSE:EQR) Shares Acquired by Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund

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 SEC. The institutional investor owned 123,165 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock after acquiring an additional 7,258 shares during the quarter. Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund's holdings in Equity Residential were worth $8,816,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in EQR. SRS Capital Advisors Inc. increased its position in shares of Equity Residential by 607.8% in the 4th quarter. SRS Capital Advisors Inc. now owns 361 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $26,000 after acquiring an additional 310 shares during the period. Versant Capital Management Inc raised its holdings in shares of Equity Residential by 51.6% during the first quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 461 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $33,000 after acquiring an additional 157 shares during the last quarter. Steward Partners Investment Advisory LLC lifted its position in shares of Equity Residential by 109.5% in the fourth quarter. Steward Partners Investment Advisory LLC now owns 551 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $40,000 after acquiring an additional 288 shares in the last quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Equity Residential by 38.8% in the fourth quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 558 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $40,000 after acquiring an additional 156 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Kapitalo Investimentos Ltda purchased a new position in shares of Equity Residential in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $51,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.68% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts have recently weighed in on EQR shares. Truist Financial raised their target price on Equity Residential from $76.00 to $78.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Monday, March 10th. Mizuho decreased their target price on Equity Residential from $76.00 to $71.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, May 23rd. Scotiabank decreased their target price on shares of Equity Residential from $82.00 to $78.00 and set a "sector perform" rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, June 13th. Barclays raised their target price on shares of Equity Residential from $79.00 to $83.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Friday, May 9th. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada raised 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. Nine investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Equity Residential presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $79.25.

Equity Residential Trading Down 0.2%

EQR traded down $0.15 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $67.31. 2,046,589 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,740,561. The firm's fifty day moving average is $69.30 and its two-hundred day moving average is $69.80. Equity Residential has a 1-year low of $59.41 and a 1-year high of $78.84. 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 company has a market cap of $25.57 billion, a PE ratio of 25.69, a PEG ratio of 3.93 and a beta of 0.90.

Equity Residential (NYSE:EQR - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, April 29th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.95 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.93 by $0.02. The firm had revenue of $760.81 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $769.43 million. Equity Residential had a return on equity of 8.93% and a net margin of 33.11%. Equity Residential's revenue was up 4.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $0.93 EPS. Equities analysts forecast that Equity Residential will post 3.98 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Equity Residential Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, July 11th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, June 24th will be paid a $0.6925 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, June 24th. This represents a $2.77 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.12%. Equity Residential's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 105.73%.

Equity Residential Company 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.