Nisa Investment Advisors LLC Decreases Position in Equity Residential (NYSE:EQR)

Nisa Investment Advisors LLC cut its stake in Equity Residential (NYSE:EQR - Free Report) by 10.7% during the first quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 139,800 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock after selling 16,767 shares during the quarter. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC's holdings in Equity Residential were worth $10,113,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Versant Capital Management Inc lifted its stake in 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 buying an additional 157 shares in the last quarter. Steward Partners Investment Advisory LLC lifted its stake in Equity Residential by 109.5% in the 4th quarter. Steward Partners Investment Advisory LLC now owns 551 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $40,000 after buying an additional 288 shares in the last quarter. Kapitalo Investimentos Ltda purchased a new position in Equity Residential in the 4th quarter valued at about $51,000. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB lifted its stake in 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 buying an additional 160 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Continuum Advisory LLC lifted its stake in Equity Residential by 38.8% in the 4th quarter. Continuum Advisory LLC now owns 765 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $55,000 after buying an additional 214 shares in the last quarter. 92.68% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Equity Residential Trading Up 0.4%

Shares of NYSE:EQR traded up $0.25 during mid-day trading on Monday, reaching $67.04. 1,215,660 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,766,501. 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 firm has a market cap of $25.47 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.59, a P/E/G ratio of 3.45 and a beta of 0.88. The firm's 50-day simple moving average is $68.74 and its 200 day simple moving average is $69.42. Equity Residential has a 1 year low of $59.41 and a 1 year high of $78.84.

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

Equity Residential Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, July 11th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, June 24th were given a $0.6925 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, June 24th. This represents a $2.77 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.13%. Equity Residential's dividend payout ratio is presently 105.73%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms have commented on EQR. Stifel Nicolaus cut their price objective on shares of Equity Residential from $82.25 to $80.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, April 30th. Barclays increased their price objective on shares of Equity Residential from $79.00 to $83.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Friday, May 9th. Mizuho cut their price objective 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. Wedbush reiterated a "neutral" rating and issued a $75.00 price objective on shares of Equity Residential in a report on Wednesday, May 28th. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada increased their price objective on shares of Equity Residential from $75.00 to $76.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Thursday, May 1st. Eight analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $79.19.

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.