Mackenzie Financial Corp Grows Holdings in Equity Residential (NYSE:EQR)

Key Points

• Mackenzie Financial Corp increased its holdings in Equity Residential by 32.5%, owning 63,744 shares valued at approximately $4.56 million after acquiring an additional 15,649 shares.
• Equity Residential reported earnings of $0.95 per share for the last quarter, surpassing estimates by $0.02, with a revenue of $760.81 million reflecting a 4.1% year-over-year increase.
• The firm declared a quarterly dividend of $0.6925, yielding 4.4% annually, despite a dividend payout ratio of 105.73%.

Mackenzie Financial Corp grew its position in Equity Residential (NYSE:EQR - Free Report) by 32.5% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 63,744 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock after acquiring an additional 15,649 shares during the period. Mackenzie Financial Corp's holdings in Equity Residential were worth $4,563,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Versant Capital Management Inc grew its position in shares of Equity Residential by 51.6% in the 1st 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 period. Kapitalo Investimentos Ltda bought a new position in shares of Equity Residential in the 4th quarter valued at about $51,000. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB boosted its holdings in shares of Equity Residential by 27.6% during the 1st quarter. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB now owns 740 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $53,000 after buying an additional 160 shares during the period. Continuum Advisory LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Equity Residential by 38.8% during the 4th quarter. Continuum Advisory LLC now owns 765 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $55,000 after buying an additional 214 shares during the period. Finally, Parvin Asset Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Equity Residential during the 4th quarter worth about $57,000. Institutional investors own 92.68% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

EQR has been the subject of several research analyst reports. Mizuho reduced their target price on shares of Equity Residential from $76.00 to $71.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a report on Friday, May 23rd. UBS Group reduced their target price on shares of Equity Residential from $84.00 to $76.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, July 15th. Royal Bank Of Canada lifted their target price on shares of Equity Residential from $75.00 to $76.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Thursday, May 1st. Barclays lifted their target price on shares of Equity Residential from $79.00 to $83.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Friday, May 9th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus set a $80.50 price objective on shares of Equity Residential and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Tuesday. Eight analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $78.43.

Equity Residential Stock Down 0.1%

Shares of EQR traded down $0.06 during trading hours on Wednesday, reaching $63.35. 1,088,410 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,924,572. 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 stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $67.49 and a 200 day simple moving average of $69.01. Equity Residential has a 52 week low of $59.41 and a 52 week high of $78.83. The company has a market cap of $24.07 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.91, a PEG ratio of 3.24 and a beta of 0.92.

Equity Residential (NYSE:EQR - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data 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. The business had revenue of $768.83 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $770.60 million. Equity Residential had a net margin of 33.22% and a return on equity of 9.06%. The firm's quarterly revenue was up 4.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $0.97 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts forecast that Equity Residential will post 3.98 EPS for the current year.

Equity Residential Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, July 11th. Investors of record on Tuesday, June 24th were paid a dividend of $0.6925 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, June 24th. This represents a $2.77 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.4%. Equity Residential's payout ratio is currently 105.73%.

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.