National Pension Service Purchases 58,052 Shares of Equity Residential $EQR

Key Points

• The National Pension Service increased its stake in Equity Residential by 11.2% in Q1, owning 575,142 shares valued at $41.17 million.
• Equity Residential reported Q2 earnings of $0.99 per share, meeting analysts' expectations, with quarterly revenue up 4.7% year-over-year.
• Analysts have mixed views on Equity Residential, with the stock receiving a consensus rating of "Hold" and a price target average of $77.78.

National Pension Service boosted its position in shares of Equity Residential (NYSE:EQR - Free Report) by 11.2% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 575,142 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock after purchasing an additional 58,052 shares during the period. National Pension Service owned 0.15% of Equity Residential worth $41,169,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. TCW Group Inc. grew its position in Equity Residential by 40.4% during the 1st quarter. TCW Group Inc. now owns 83,417 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $5,971,000 after purchasing an additional 23,997 shares in the last quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC grew its holdings in shares of Equity Residential by 6.3% during the 1st quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC now owns 3,246 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $232,000 after acquiring an additional 191 shares in the last quarter. U.S. Capital Wealth Advisors LLC grew its holdings in shares of Equity Residential by 39.1% during the 1st quarter. U.S. Capital Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 86,203 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $6,170,000 after acquiring an additional 24,232 shares in the last quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. grew its holdings in shares of Equity Residential by 11.0% during the 1st quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 845,820 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $60,544,000 after acquiring an additional 83,788 shares in the last quarter. Finally, PNC Financial Services Group Inc. boosted its holdings in Equity Residential by 9.0% in the first quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 54,271 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $3,885,000 after purchasing an additional 4,499 shares in the last quarter. 92.68% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Equity Residential Price Performance

Shares of NYSE EQR traded down $0.0940 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, hitting $64.3460. 835,683 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,935,451. The company has a market cap of $24.57 billion, a P/E ratio of 24.27, a PEG ratio of 3.21 and a beta of 0.92. The stock's fifty day simple moving average is $66.33 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $68.60. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.75, a quick ratio of 0.17 and a current ratio of 0.17. Equity Residential has a twelve month low of $59.41 and a twelve month high of $78.83.

Equity Residential (NYSE:EQR - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Monday, August 4th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.99 earnings per share for the quarter, meeting analysts' consensus estimates of $0.99. The business had revenue of $768.83 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $770.60 million. Equity Residential had a net margin of 33.22% and a return on equity of 9.05%. Equity Residential's revenue for the quarter was up 4.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $0.97 earnings per share. Equity Residential has set its FY 2025 guidance at 3.970-4.030 EPS. Q3 2025 guidance at 0.990-1.030 EPS. As a group, analysts forecast that Equity Residential will post 3.98 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Equity Residential Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, July 11th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, June 24th were issued a dividend of $0.6925 per share. This represents a $2.77 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.3%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, June 24th. Equity Residential's payout ratio is currently 104.53%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on EQR. Mizuho decreased their price objective on shares of Equity Residential from $76.00 to $71.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a report on Friday, May 23rd. Morgan Stanley cut their target price on shares of Equity Residential from $76.50 to $75.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, August 13th. UBS Group cut their target price on shares of Equity Residential from $84.00 to $76.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, July 15th. Evercore ISI cut their target price on shares of Equity Residential from $72.00 to $71.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, August 12th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus set a $80.50 price objective on shares of Equity Residential and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 5th. Eight research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and eight have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Equity Residential currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $77.78.

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.