Toronto Dominion Bank Boosts Position in Equity Residential (NYSE:EQR)

Toronto Dominion Bank grew its stake in Equity Residential (NYSE:EQR - Free Report) by 7.4% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 182,560 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock after buying an additional 12,654 shares during the period. Toronto Dominion Bank's holdings in Equity Residential were worth $13,101,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors have also modified their holdings of EQR. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank raised its position 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 valued at $34,714,000 after purchasing an additional 263,622 shares during the last quarter. Vert Asset Management LLC raised its position in Equity Residential by 7.5% in the 4th quarter. Vert Asset Management LLC now owns 150,245 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $10,782,000 after purchasing an additional 10,472 shares during the last quarter. Mission Wealth Management LP purchased a new stake in Equity Residential in the 4th quarter valued at $321,000. Atomi Financial Group Inc. raised its position in Equity Residential by 8.3% in the 4th quarter. Atomi Financial Group Inc. now owns 3,707 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $266,000 after purchasing an additional 284 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Keybank National Association OH raised its position in Equity Residential by 2.0% in the 4th quarter. Keybank National Association OH now owns 7,001 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $502,000 after purchasing an additional 139 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.68% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts have commented on the stock. Royal Bank of Canada upped their price objective 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. Scotiabank upped their price objective on shares of Equity Residential from $79.00 to $82.00 and gave the stock a "sector perform" rating in a research report on Monday, May 12th. Barclays upped their price objective on shares of Equity Residential from $79.00 to $83.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Friday, May 9th. Evercore ISI upped their price objective on shares of Equity Residential from $74.00 to $76.00 and gave the stock an "in-line" rating in a research report on Monday, February 10th. Finally, Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Equity Residential from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Saturday, February 8th. Nine investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Equity Residential has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $79.50.

Equity Residential Trading Down 1.0%

Shares of Equity Residential stock traded down $0.68 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $67.62. 1,354,822 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,730,038. Equity Residential has a twelve month low of $59.41 and a twelve month high of $78.84. The stock has a market capitalization of $25.69 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.86, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.99 and a beta of 0.89. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $68.91 and a 200 day simple moving average of $70.80. The company has a current ratio of 0.36, a quick ratio of 0.36 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.72.

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 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping 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 company had revenue of $760.81 million for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $769.43 million. During the same period last year, the company earned $0.93 EPS. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 4.1% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts forecast that Equity Residential will post 3.98 EPS for the current year.

Equity Residential Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed 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. This is a positive change from Equity Residential's previous quarterly dividend of $0.68. This represents a $2.77 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.10%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, March 31st. Equity Residential's dividend payout ratio is presently 105.73%.

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.