M&T Bank Corp Cuts Stock Holdings in Equity Residential (NYSE:EQR)

M&T Bank Corp reduced its stake in Equity Residential (NYSE:EQR - Free Report) by 9.4% during the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 38,154 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock after selling 3,952 shares during the quarter. M&T Bank Corp's holdings in Equity Residential were worth $2,731,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in EQR. Norges Bank purchased a new position in shares of Equity Residential in the 4th quarter worth about $2,493,426,000. Northern Trust Corp boosted its holdings in shares of Equity Residential by 53.1% in the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 6,476,004 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $464,718,000 after buying an additional 2,246,555 shares during the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. boosted its holdings in shares of Equity Residential by 12.0% in the 4th quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 6,522,442 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $468,050,000 after buying an additional 696,343 shares during the last quarter. Adelante Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Equity Residential by 172.1% in the 4th quarter. Adelante Capital Management LLC now owns 1,077,337 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $77,310,000 after buying an additional 681,356 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Lasalle Investment Management Securities LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Equity Residential by 79.1% in the 4th quarter. Lasalle Investment Management Securities LLC now owns 1,161,137 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $83,323,000 after buying an additional 512,723 shares during the last quarter. 92.68% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Equity Residential Price Performance

Shares of EQR traded down $0.37 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $66.71. 1,284,643 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,769,515. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $68.74 and a 200-day moving average of $69.46. Equity Residential has a one year low of $59.41 and a one year high of $78.84. The firm has a market cap of $25.35 billion, a P/E ratio of 25.46, a PEG ratio of 3.47 and a beta of 0.88. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.70, a current ratio of 0.20 and a quick ratio of 0.20.

Equity Residential (NYSE:EQR - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 29th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.95 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.93 by $0.02. Equity Residential had a return on equity of 8.93% and a net margin of 33.11%. The firm had revenue of $760.81 million for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $769.43 million. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $0.93 earnings per share. The company's revenue was up 4.1% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Equity Residential will post 3.98 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Equity Residential Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, July 11th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, June 24th were issued a dividend of $0.6925 per share. This represents a $2.77 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.15%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, June 24th. Equity Residential's payout ratio is 105.73%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts recently issued reports on the company. Mizuho lowered their price objective on Equity Residential from $76.00 to $71.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, May 23rd. Barclays boosted their price objective on Equity Residential from $79.00 to $83.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Friday, May 9th. Stifel Nicolaus lowered their price objective on Equity Residential from $82.25 to $80.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, April 30th. Evercore ISI upgraded Equity Residential from an "in-line" rating to an "outperform" rating and boosted their price objective for the company from $74.00 to $75.00 in a research note on Monday, July 7th. Finally, Scotiabank lowered their price objective on Equity Residential from $82.00 to $78.00 and set a "sector perform" rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, June 13th. Eight analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $79.19.

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.