Ontario Teachers Pension Plan Board Acquires 4,155 Shares of Equity Residential (NYSE:EQR)

Key Points

• The Ontario Teachers Pension Plan Board increased its stake in Equity Residential by 28.7%, owning 18,646 shares valued at approximately $1.33 million after acquiring additional shares in the first quarter.
• Equity Residential reported a net margin of 33.22% and earnings per share of $0.99 for the quarter, meeting analyst expectations.
• Equity Residential's last quarterly dividend was $0.6925 per share, translating to an annualized dividend yield of 4.4% with a payout ratio of 104.53%.

Ontario Teachers Pension Plan Board grew its position in shares of Equity Residential (NYSE:EQR - Free Report) by 28.7% during the first quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 18,646 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock after purchasing an additional 4,155 shares during the quarter. Ontario Teachers Pension Plan Board's holdings in Equity Residential were worth $1,335,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. TCW Group Inc. increased its holdings in Equity Residential by 40.4% in the first 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 Equity Residential by 6.3% during the first quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC now owns 3,246 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $232,000 after buying an additional 191 shares in the last quarter. U.S. Capital Wealth Advisors LLC grew its holdings in Equity Residential by 39.1% during the first quarter. U.S. Capital Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 86,203 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $6,170,000 after buying an additional 24,232 shares in the last quarter. Teacher Retirement System of Texas grew its holdings in Equity Residential by 11.9% during the first quarter. Teacher Retirement System of Texas now owns 49,921 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $3,573,000 after buying an additional 5,293 shares in the last quarter. Finally, PNC Financial Services Group Inc. grew its holdings in Equity Residential by 9.0% during 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 buying an additional 4,499 shares in the last quarter. 92.68% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

EQR has been the subject of several recent research reports. Mizuho decreased their price target on Equity Residential from $76.00 to $71.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a report on Friday, May 23rd. Evercore ISI cut their price objective on Equity Residential from $72.00 to $71.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday. Morgan Stanley set a $75.00 price objective on Equity Residential and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Wednesday. Stifel Nicolaus set a $80.50 price objective on Equity Residential and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 5th. Finally, Wall Street Zen cut Equity Residential from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a research report on Saturday. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Equity Residential presently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $77.84.

Equity Residential Price Performance

Shares of Equity Residential stock traded up $0.58 during trading on Wednesday, hitting $63.28. 502,946 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,919,970. The company has a quick ratio of 0.17, a current ratio of 0.17 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.75. The stock has a market cap of $24.17 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.91, a PEG ratio of 3.17 and a beta of 0.92. The firm's fifty day moving average is $66.85 and its 200-day moving average is $68.81. Equity Residential has a 52 week low of $59.41 and a 52 week high of $78.83.

Equity Residential (NYSE:EQR - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Monday, August 4th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.99 EPS for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate of $0.99. The firm had revenue of $768.83 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $770.60 million. Equity Residential had a return on equity of 9.05% and a net margin of 33.22%. The company's revenue was up 4.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $0.97 EPS. Research analysts expect that Equity Residential will post 3.98 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Equity Residential Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, July 11th. Investors of record on Tuesday, June 24th were issued a dividend of $0.6925 per share. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, June 24th. This represents a $2.77 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.4%. Equity Residential's dividend payout ratio is currently 104.53%.

About Equity Residential

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.