Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD Purchases 1,101,027 Shares of Equity Residential $EQR

Key Points

• Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD increased its holdings in Equity Residential by 5.6% in Q1 2023, acquiring an additional 1,101,027 shares, bringing its total to 20,711,588 shares valued at approximately $1.48 billion.
• Equity Residential's stock performance has attracted several institutional investors, with 92.68% of shares currently held by such investors, including notable increases from firms like Versant Capital Management.
• Wall Street analysts have mixed ratings on Equity Residential, with a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a target price of $77.78, though several firms have recently lowered their price targets for the stock.

Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD grew its holdings in Equity Residential (NYSE:EQR - Free Report) by 5.6% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 20,711,588 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock after purchasing an additional 1,101,027 shares during the quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD owned about 5.45% of Equity Residential worth $1,482,537,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Versant Capital Management Inc boosted its holdings in 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 valued at $33,000 after purchasing an additional 157 shares during the period. GKV Capital Management Co. Inc. bought a new position in shares of Equity Residential during the 1st quarter worth about $37,000. Keystone Global Partners LLC acquired a new position in shares of Equity Residential during the first quarter valued at about $47,000. Zions Bancorporation National Association UT bought a new stake in shares of Equity Residential in the first quarter valued at about $48,000. Finally, Kapitalo Investimentos Ltda acquired a new stake in Equity Residential during the fourth quarter worth about $51,000. 92.68% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts have commented on EQR shares. Barclays cut their price target on Equity Residential from $83.00 to $81.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, August 12th. Wedbush restated a "neutral" rating and issued a $75.00 target price on shares of Equity Residential in a research note on Wednesday, May 28th. Wall Street Zen cut Equity Residential from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a research report on Saturday, August 9th. Morgan Stanley lowered their price target on shares of Equity Residential from $76.50 to $75.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, August 13th. Finally, Mizuho dropped their price objective 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. Eight research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and eight have issued a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $77.78.

Equity Residential Price Performance

Equity Residential stock opened at $64.4680 on Thursday. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $66.23 and a 200 day simple moving average of $68.58. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.75, a current ratio of 0.17 and a quick ratio of 0.17. The company has a market capitalization of $24.62 billion, a PE ratio of 24.33, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.27 and a beta of 0.92. Equity Residential has a one year low of $59.41 and a one year high of $78.83.

Equity Residential (NYSE:EQR - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Monday, August 4th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.99 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of $0.99. The firm had revenue of $768.83 million during 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 business's revenue for the quarter was up 4.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company 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. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Equity Residential will post 3.98 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Equity Residential Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared 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. This represents a $2.77 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.3%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, June 24th. Equity Residential's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 104.53%.

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.

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