Meiji Yasuda Asset Management Co Ltd. Boosts Holdings in Equity Residential $EQR

Key Points

• Meiji Yasuda Asset Management sharply increased its stake in Equity Residential, boosting holdings by 1,180.5% in the fourth quarter to 51,003 shares valued at about $3.2 million.
• Equity Residential reported Q1 earnings of $0.24 per share, missing analyst estimates of $0.33, while revenue came in slightly below expectations at $779.85 million.
• The REIT raised its quarterly dividend to $0.7025 per share, equal to an annualized yield of about 4.2%, even as its payout ratio remains elevated at 112.4%.

Meiji Yasuda Asset Management Co Ltd. increased its holdings in Equity Residential (NYSE:EQR - Free Report) by 1,180.5% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 51,003 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock after buying an additional 47,020 shares during the quarter. Meiji Yasuda Asset Management Co Ltd.'s holdings in Equity Residential were worth $3,215,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Equity Residential by 2.3% in the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 57,597,658 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $3,728,296,000 after buying an additional 1,281,354 shares during the last quarter. Aberdeen Group plc increased its position in Equity Residential by 34.6% in the third quarter. Aberdeen Group plc now owns 568,408 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $36,446,000 after buying an additional 146,148 shares in the last quarter. Baillie Gifford & Co. increased its position in Equity Residential by 566.7% in the third quarter. Baillie Gifford & Co. now owns 115,181 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $7,456,000 after buying an additional 97,906 shares in the last quarter. CIBC Bancorp USA Inc. purchased a new stake in Equity Residential in the third quarter worth about $9,094,000. Finally, National Pension Service increased its position in Equity Residential by 4.6% in the third quarter. National Pension Service now owns 605,494 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $39,194,000 after buying an additional 26,590 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.68% of the company's stock.

Equity Residential Stock Up 0.8%

EQR opened at $66.30 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.77, a quick ratio of 0.18 and a current ratio of 0.18. Equity Residential has a fifty-two week low of $57.57 and a fifty-two week high of $70.31. The firm's fifty day moving average is $62.21 and its 200 day moving average is $61.90. The stock has a market cap of $24.84 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.52, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.22 and a beta of 0.76.

Equity Residential (NYSE:EQR - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, April 28th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.24 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $0.33 by ($0.09). Equity Residential had a net margin of 30.63% and a return on equity of 8.57%. The firm had revenue of $779.85 million for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $781.79 million. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $0.95 EPS. The firm's quarterly revenue was up 2.5% compared to the same quarter last year. 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. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Equity Residential will post 4.09 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Equity Residential Increases Dividend

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

Key Stories Impacting Equity Residential

Here are the key news stories impacting Equity Residential this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Equity Residential’s merger with AvalonBay could improve scale, operating efficiency, and bargaining power across a portfolio of more than 180,000 rental apartments, supporting the investment case for the combined company. What the AvalonBay, Equity Residential megamerger means for the apartment industry and rents
• Positive Sentiment: Zacks Research raised several forward earnings estimates for Equity Residential, including Q1 2027, Q3 2027, Q4 2027, Q1 2028 and FY2028, signaling improved longer-term earnings expectations.
• Neutral Sentiment: Some 2026 and Q2 2027 EPS estimates were trimmed slightly, suggesting near-term earnings expectations are not uniformly improving, even as longer-dated forecasts rise.
• Negative Sentiment: The merger has also drawn shareholder-rights investigations, which could add legal noise and uncertainty around whether EQR investors are receiving a fair price in the deal.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have commented on EQR. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target on Equity Residential from $71.00 to $72.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Tuesday, May 5th. UBS Group increased their target price on shares of Equity Residential from $71.00 to $73.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, May 14th. BNP Paribas Exane increased their target price on shares of Equity Residential from $68.00 to $70.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Monday, May 18th. Weiss Ratings reissued a "hold (c)" rating on shares of Equity Residential in a report on Tuesday, April 21st. Finally, Wall Street Zen lowered shares of Equity Residential from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a report on Saturday, May 2nd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eight have issued a Buy rating and twelve have issued a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Equity Residential has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $70.11.

About Equity Residential

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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