Equity Residential (NYSE:EQR) Position Increased by Starwood Capital Group Management L.L.C.

Starwood Capital Group Management L.L.C. raised its stake in Equity Residential (NYSE:EQR - Free Report) by 26.2% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 339,338 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock after acquiring an additional 70,500 shares during the quarter. Equity Residential makes up approximately 14.9% of Starwood Capital Group Management L.L.C.'s investment portfolio, making the stock its 5th largest position. Starwood Capital Group Management L.L.C. owned approximately 0.09% of Equity Residential worth $24,351,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Keybank National Association OH increased its position in shares of Equity Residential by 2.0% in the fourth quarter. Keybank National Association OH now owns 7,001 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $502,000 after buying an additional 139 shares in the last quarter. AdvisorNet Financial Inc grew its stake in Equity Residential by 25.3% in the 4th quarter. AdvisorNet Financial Inc now owns 722 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $52,000 after acquiring an additional 146 shares during the period. Transamerica Financial Advisors Inc. increased its holdings in Equity Residential by 4.1% in the 4th 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 in the last quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC raised its position in Equity Residential by 38.8% during the fourth 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 during the period. Finally, Frank Rimerman Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in Equity Residential by 4.0% during the fourth quarter. Frank Rimerman Advisors LLC now owns 5,604 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $402,000 after purchasing an additional 218 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.68% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts recently weighed in on EQR shares. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price target on shares of Equity Residential from $77.00 to $75.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a research report on Friday, January 24th. Scotiabank increased their target price on Equity Residential from $79.00 to $82.00 and gave the company a "sector perform" rating in a report on Monday, May 12th. Royal Bank of Canada raised their target price on Equity Residential from $75.00 to $76.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. Evercore ISI boosted their price target on Equity Residential from $74.00 to $76.00 and gave the stock an "in-line" rating in a research report on Monday, February 10th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus reduced their price objective on Equity Residential from $82.25 to $80.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, April 30th. Nine analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $79.69.

Equity Residential Trading Down 1.1%

Shares of EQR stock traded down $0.78 during trading on Friday, hitting $67.53. 424,589 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,844,227. Equity Residential has a 52-week low of $59.41 and a 52-week high of $78.83. The firm has a market capitalization of $25.66 billion, a P/E ratio of 24.82, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.99 and a beta of 0.89. The firm's fifty day moving average price is $68.94 and its 200-day moving average price is $70.83. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.72, a current ratio of 0.36 and a quick ratio of 0.36.

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. Equity Residential had a return on equity of 9.27% and a net margin of 34.76%. The company had revenue of $760.81 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $769.43 million. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $0.93 earnings per share. The firm's quarterly revenue was up 4.1% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts forecast that Equity Residential will post 3.98 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Equity Residential Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, April 17th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 31st were paid a dividend of $0.6925 per share. This represents a $2.77 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.10%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, March 31st. This is a positive change from Equity Residential's previous quarterly dividend of $0.68. Equity Residential's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 105.73%.

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.