Equity Residential (NYSE:EQR) Shares Sold by Royal Bank of Canada

Royal Bank of Canada lessened its position in Equity Residential (NYSE:EQR - Free Report) by 14.2% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 511,441 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock after selling 84,931 shares during the quarter. Royal Bank of Canada owned approximately 0.13% of Equity Residential worth $36,701,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in Equity Residential during the fourth quarter worth about $2,493,426,000. Northern Trust Corp increased its stake in Equity Residential by 53.1% during 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 period. Invesco Ltd. lifted its holdings in Equity Residential by 12.0% during 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 in the last quarter. Adelante Capital Management LLC boosted its position in 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 valued at $77,310,000 after buying an additional 681,356 shares during the period. Finally, Lasalle Investment Management Securities LLC grew its stake in shares of Equity Residential by 79.1% in the fourth 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 acquiring an additional 512,723 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.68% of the company's stock.

Equity Residential Stock Performance

NYSE:EQR traded down $0.01 during midday trading on Wednesday, reaching $68.61. The stock had a trading volume of 250,002 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,726,710. The company has a quick ratio of 0.36, a current ratio of 0.36 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.72. The stock has a market cap of $26.07 billion, a P/E ratio of 25.24, a P/E/G ratio of 3.99 and a beta of 0.89. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $68.83 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $70.73. Equity Residential has a 12-month low of $59.41 and a 12-month high of $78.84.

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

Equity Residential Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, April 17th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 31st were given a $0.6925 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, March 31st. This represents a $2.77 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.04%. This is a boost from Equity Residential's previous quarterly dividend of $0.68. Equity Residential's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 105.73%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

EQR has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Truist Financial lifted their target price on Equity Residential from $76.00 to $78.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Monday, March 10th. Evercore ISI boosted their price objective 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. Mizuho reduced their target price on shares of Equity Residential from $76.00 to $71.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a report on Friday, May 23rd. Royal Bank of Canada raised their price target on Equity Residential from $75.00 to $76.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. Finally, Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Equity Residential from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Saturday, February 8th. Nine investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $79.50.

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.