KBC Group NV Reduces Stock Position in Equity Residential (NYSE:EQR)

KBC Group NV trimmed its stake in shares of Equity Residential (NYSE:EQR - Free Report) by 35.1% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 448,189 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock after selling 242,872 shares during the period. KBC Group NV owned approximately 0.12% of Equity Residential worth $32,081,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in EQR. SRS Capital Advisors Inc. grew its position in 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 worth $26,000 after purchasing an additional 310 shares during the period. Versant Capital Management Inc boosted its stake 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 worth $33,000 after buying an additional 157 shares during the last quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC grew its holdings 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 worth $40,000 after acquiring an additional 156 shares during the period. Steward Partners Investment Advisory LLC increased its position in Equity Residential by 109.5% during 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 during the last quarter. Finally, Kapitalo Investimentos Ltda bought a new position in Equity Residential in the fourth quarter valued at about $51,000. 92.68% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Equity Residential Stock Down 0.2%

Shares of EQR opened at $67.31 on Monday. Equity Residential has a 52-week low of $59.41 and a 52-week high of $78.84. The company has a market cap of $25.57 billion, a PE ratio of 25.69, a P/E/G ratio of 3.93 and a beta of 0.90. The company has a quick ratio of 0.20, a current ratio of 0.20 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.70. The business has a fifty day moving average of $69.30 and a 200 day moving average of $69.78.

Equity Residential (NYSE:EQR - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 29th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.95 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.93 by $0.02. Equity Residential had a net margin of 33.11% and a return on equity of 8.93%. The company had revenue of $760.81 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $769.43 million. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $0.93 EPS. The firm's revenue was up 4.1% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts expect 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 will be paid on Friday, July 11th. Investors of record on Tuesday, June 24th will be paid a dividend of $0.6925 per share. This represents a $2.77 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.12%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, June 24th. Equity Residential's dividend payout ratio is currently 105.73%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts recently issued reports on the stock. Truist Financial raised their price objective on shares of Equity Residential from $76.00 to $78.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Monday, March 10th. Wedbush restated a "neutral" rating and set a $75.00 target price on shares of Equity Residential in a research note on Wednesday, May 28th. Barclays upped their price objective on Equity Residential from $79.00 to $83.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Friday, May 9th. Mizuho cut their target price on shares of Equity Residential from $76.00 to $71.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research note on Friday, May 23rd. Finally, Scotiabank cut their price target on Equity Residential from $82.00 to $78.00 and set a "sector perform" rating for the company in a report on Friday, June 13th. Nine investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Equity Residential currently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $79.25.

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.

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