S Bank Fund Management Ltd Buys Shares of 4,443 Equity Residential (NYSE:EQR)

Key Points

• S Bank Fund Management Ltd made a new investment of approximately $318,000 in Equity Residential, purchasing 4,443 shares during the first quarter.
• Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.68% of Equity Residential's stock, indicating strong interest from large financial entities.
• Equity Residential reported $0.99 earnings per share this quarter, matching analysts' expectations, with quarterly revenue increasing 4.7% year-over-year.

S Bank Fund Management Ltd bought a new stake in Equity Residential (NYSE:EQR - Free Report) during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm bought 4,443 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock, valued at approximately $318,000.

A number of other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in EQR. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. raised its stake in shares of Equity Residential by 19.4% in the 4th quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 203,612 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $14,611,000 after acquiring an additional 33,057 shares during the period. Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new stake in Equity Residential during the 4th quarter worth $13,921,000. Townsquare Capital LLC increased its stake in Equity Residential by 9.1% during the 4th quarter. Townsquare Capital LLC now owns 4,971 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $357,000 after buying an additional 415 shares during the period. Mariner LLC increased its stake in Equity Residential by 5.7% during the 4th quarter. Mariner LLC now owns 25,231 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $1,811,000 after buying an additional 1,367 shares during the period. Finally, NewEdge Advisors LLC increased its stake in Equity Residential by 3.0% during the 4th quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC now owns 8,584 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $616,000 after buying an additional 249 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.68% of the company's stock.

Equity Residential Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE EQR traded up $0.60 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $64.11. The company's stock had a trading volume of 3,890,265 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,275,611. Equity Residential has a 1-year low of $59.41 and a 1-year high of $78.83. The firm's fifty day moving average price is $66.56 and its 200-day moving average price is $68.69. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.75, a quick ratio of 0.17 and a current ratio of 0.17. The firm has a market cap of $24.48 billion, a P/E ratio of 24.19, a P/E/G ratio of 3.25 and a beta of 0.92.

Equity Residential (NYSE:EQR - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Monday, August 4th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.99 EPS for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate 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%. The company's quarterly revenue was up 4.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $0.97 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Equity Residential will post 3.98 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Equity Residential Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, July 11th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, June 24th were paid 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 presently 104.53%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts recently issued reports on the stock. Scotiabank reaffirmed a "sector perform" rating and set a $77.00 price target (down previously from $78.00) on shares of Equity Residential in a research note on Thursday. Barclays dropped their target price on shares of Equity Residential from $83.00 to $81.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday. UBS Group dropped 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. Stifel Nicolaus set a $80.50 target price on shares of Equity Residential and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 5th. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada boosted their target price on shares of Equity Residential from $75.00 to $76.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price 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.