First Eagle Investment Management LLC Has $582.62 Million Stock Position in Equity Residential $EQR

Key Points

• First Eagle Investment Management increased its stake in Equity Residential by 0.5% in the fourth quarter, ending with 9.24 million shares valued at about $582.6 million.
• Institutional ownership remains very high, with 92.68% of Equity Residential stock held by institutions, while several major firms including Vanguard, State Street, and Northern Trust also added to their positions.
• Analysts are mixed on the stock: the consensus rating is Hold with an average price target of $69.91, and the company recently reported earnings that missed expectations while also raising its quarterly dividend to $0.7025 per share.

First Eagle Investment Management LLC lifted its stake in Equity Residential (NYSE:EQR - Free Report) by 0.5% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 9,242,013 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock after purchasing an additional 44,127 shares during the period. First Eagle Investment Management LLC owned 2.43% of Equity Residential worth $582,617,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its position in shares of Equity Residential by 2.3% in the 3rd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 57,597,658 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $3,728,296,000 after purchasing an additional 1,281,354 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp boosted its position in shares of Equity Residential by 2.8% in the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 24,922,935 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $1,630,103,000 after purchasing an additional 688,854 shares during the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp boosted its position in shares of Equity Residential by 0.6% in the 3rd quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 6,231,961 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $403,395,000 after purchasing an additional 34,625 shares during the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its position in shares of Equity Residential by 3.4% in the 3rd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 5,199,635 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $336,564,000 after purchasing an additional 173,002 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Legal & General Group Plc boosted its position in shares of Equity Residential by 5.7% in the 3rd quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 5,045,443 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $326,592,000 after purchasing an additional 273,673 shares during the last quarter. 92.68% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts have recently issued reports on the company. The Goldman Sachs Group reduced their price target on Equity Residential from $71.00 to $69.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, April 16th. Cantor Fitzgerald raised their price target on Equity Residential from $64.00 to $66.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Monday, May 4th. Wall Street Zen lowered Equity Residential from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a research report on Saturday, May 2nd. Weiss Ratings restated a "hold (c)" rating on shares of Equity Residential in a research report on Tuesday, April 21st. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada raised their price target on Equity Residential from $67.00 to $69.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Thursday, April 30th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seven have issued a Buy rating and twelve have given a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $69.91.

Equity Residential Stock Performance

EQR stock opened at $66.19 on Tuesday. The business's 50-day moving average price is $61.63 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $61.66. The company has a current ratio of 0.18, a quick ratio of 0.18 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.77. The firm has a market cap of $24.80 billion, a PE ratio of 26.48, a P/E/G ratio of 5.20 and a beta of 0.76. Equity Residential has a 1-year low of $57.57 and a 1-year high of $71.80.

Equity Residential (NYSE:EQR - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, April 28th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.24 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.33 by ($0.09). Equity Residential had a return on equity of 8.57% and a net margin of 30.63%.The business had revenue of $779.85 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $781.79 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $0.95 earnings per share. The business's revenue was up 2.5% on a year-over-year basis. Equity Residential has set its FY 2026 guidance at 4.020-4.140 EPS and its Q2 2026 guidance at 0.980-1.020 EPS. As a group, research analysts forecast that Equity Residential will post 4.09 earnings per share for the current year.

Equity Residential Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, April 10th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 30th were given a dividend of $0.7025 per share. This is a positive change from Equity Residential's previous quarterly dividend of $0.69. This represents a $2.81 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.2%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, March 30th. Equity Residential's payout ratio is currently 112.40%.

Equity Residential Profile

Equity Residential NYSE: EQR is a publicly traded real estate investment trust that acquires, develops, owns and operates rental apartment properties. Headquartered in Chicago, the company focuses on delivering professionally managed, market-rate apartment homes and related services to renters. Its operations cover a range of property types, including high-rise and mid-rise assets, with amenities and on-site management designed to support resident retention and occupancy.

The company's core activities include property acquisitions, development and redevelopment, leasing, and day-to-day property management.

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