Rhumbline Advisers Grows Holdings in Equity Residential (NYSE:EQR)

Rhumbline Advisers grew its position in Equity Residential (NYSE:EQR - Free Report) by 5.9% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 746,796 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock after acquiring an additional 41,887 shares during the period. Rhumbline Advisers owned about 0.20% of Equity Residential worth $53,456,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank raised its holdings in Equity Residential by 119.8% in the 4th quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank now owns 483,753 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $34,714,000 after purchasing an additional 263,622 shares during the period. Mission Wealth Management LP purchased a new stake in shares of Equity Residential in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $321,000. Keybank National Association OH raised its stake in shares of Equity Residential by 2.0% during the 4th quarter. Keybank National Association OH now owns 7,001 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $502,000 after buying an additional 139 shares during the period. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased its holdings in Equity Residential by 3.3% in the 4th quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 4,210,383 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $302,137,000 after acquiring an additional 136,275 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new position in Equity Residential during the fourth quarter worth $13,921,000. 92.68% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts have recently commented on EQR shares. Truist Financial boosted their target price on shares of Equity Residential from $76.00 to $78.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Monday, March 10th. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their price objective on Equity Residential from $75.00 to $76.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. Evercore ISI boosted their price target on Equity Residential from $74.00 to $76.00 and gave the stock an "in-line" rating in a research report on Monday, February 10th. Wedbush reaffirmed a "neutral" rating and set a $75.00 target price on shares of Equity Residential in a research note on Wednesday, May 28th. Finally, Barclays increased their target price on shares of Equity Residential from $79.00 to $83.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Friday, May 9th. Nine analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $79.50.

Equity Residential Trading Up 0.3%

EQR stock traded up $0.23 during trading on Wednesday, reaching $69.13. 1,938,528 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,720,716. The company has a current ratio of 0.36, a quick ratio of 0.36 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.72. The firm has a market capitalization of $26.27 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.42, a P/E/G ratio of 3.99 and a beta of 0.89. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $68.69 and a 200-day moving average price of $70.59. Equity Residential has a 1 year low of $59.41 and a 1 year high of $78.84.

Equity Residential (NYSE:EQR - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 29th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.95 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.93 by $0.02. Equity Residential had a net margin of 34.76% and a return on equity of 9.27%. The firm had revenue of $760.81 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $769.43 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $0.93 EPS. The business's revenue for the quarter was up 4.1% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts predict that Equity Residential will post 3.98 earnings per share for the current year.

Equity Residential Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, April 17th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 31st were issued a dividend of $0.6925 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, March 31st. This is a boost from Equity Residential's previous quarterly dividend of $0.68. This represents a $2.77 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.01%. Equity Residential's dividend payout ratio is currently 105.73%.

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.