Universal Beteiligungs und Servicegesellschaft mbH Buys New Stake in Equity Residential (NYSE:EQR)

Universal Beteiligungs und Servicegesellschaft mbH bought a new stake in Equity Residential (NYSE:EQR - Free Report) during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm bought 384,398 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock, valued at approximately $27,584,000. Universal Beteiligungs und Servicegesellschaft mbH owned approximately 0.10% of Equity Residential as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors have also bought and sold shares of the stock. SRS Capital Advisors Inc. lifted its position in shares of Equity Residential by 607.8% during the 4th quarter. SRS Capital Advisors Inc. now owns 361 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $26,000 after buying an additional 310 shares in the last quarter. Steward Partners Investment Advisory LLC raised its stake in Equity Residential by 109.5% in the 4th quarter. Steward Partners Investment Advisory LLC now owns 551 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $40,000 after acquiring an additional 288 shares during the period. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC raised its position in shares of Equity Residential by 38.8% in the fourth quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 558 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $40,000 after purchasing an additional 156 shares during the period. Kapitalo Investimentos Ltda bought a new stake in Equity Residential during the 4th quarter valued at $51,000. Finally, Continuum Advisory LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Equity Residential by 38.8% in the fourth quarter. Continuum Advisory LLC now owns 765 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $55,000 after buying an additional 214 shares in the last quarter. 92.68% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on EQR. Truist Financial increased their price objective on Equity Residential from $76.00 to $78.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Monday, March 10th. Barclays boosted their price target 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. Wedbush restated a "neutral" rating and issued a $75.00 price target on shares of Equity Residential in a research note on Wednesday. Mizuho dropped their price objective on Equity Residential from $76.00 to $71.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, May 23rd. Finally, Evercore ISI lifted their price target on shares of Equity Residential from $74.00 to $76.00 and gave the stock an "in-line" rating in a research note on Monday, February 10th. Nine analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $79.50.

Equity Residential Price Performance

Equity Residential stock traded up $0.10 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $70.08. 3,122,806 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,721,605. The company has a market cap of $26.63 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.76, a PEG ratio of 3.99 and a beta of 0.89. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $68.77 and a two-hundred day moving average of $70.65. The company has a quick ratio of 0.36, a current ratio of 0.36 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.72. 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 announced its earnings results on Tuesday, April 29th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.95 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.93 by $0.02. The firm had revenue of $760.81 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $769.43 million. Equity Residential had a return on equity of 9.27% and a net margin of 34.76%. The company's quarterly revenue was up 4.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $0.93 EPS. Equities analysts forecast that Equity Residential will post 3.98 earnings per share for the current year.

Equity Residential Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, April 17th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 31st were given a $0.6925 dividend. This represents a $2.77 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.95%. This is a boost from Equity Residential's previous quarterly dividend of $0.68. The ex-dividend date was Monday, March 31st. Equity Residential's payout ratio is 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.