U.S. Capital Wealth Advisors LLC Buys 24,232 Shares of Equity Residential (NYSE:EQR)

U.S. Capital Wealth Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of Equity Residential (NYSE:EQR - Free Report) by 39.1% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 86,203 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock after acquiring an additional 24,232 shares during the quarter. U.S. Capital Wealth Advisors LLC's holdings in Equity Residential were worth $6,170,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Keybank National Association OH raised its holdings in 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 purchasing an additional 139 shares during the last quarter. Transamerica Financial Advisors Inc. grew its position in shares of Equity Residential by 4.1% in the 4th quarter. Transamerica Financial Advisors Inc. now owns 3,827 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $275,000 after purchasing an additional 151 shares during the period. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC grew its position in shares of Equity Residential by 38.8% in the 4th 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. Versant Capital Management Inc boosted its position in Equity Residential by 51.6% during the 1st quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 461 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $33,000 after acquiring an additional 157 shares during the last quarter. Finally, MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB boosted its position in Equity Residential by 27.6% during the 1st quarter. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB now owns 740 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $53,000 after acquiring an additional 160 shares during the last quarter. 92.68% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts have recently commented on the company. Stifel Nicolaus cut their price objective on Equity Residential from $82.25 to $80.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, April 30th. Wedbush reiterated a "neutral" rating and set a $75.00 price objective on shares of Equity Residential in a research report on Wednesday, May 28th. Mizuho decreased their price target 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. Evercore ISI upgraded Equity Residential from an "in-line" rating to an "outperform" rating and lifted their target price for the company from $74.00 to $75.00 in a research report on Monday. Finally, Scotiabank decreased their target price on Equity Residential from $82.00 to $78.00 and set a "sector perform" rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, June 13th. Eight equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $79.19.

Equity Residential Price Performance

NYSE EQR traded down $0.37 during trading on Friday, reaching $66.71. The company's stock had a trading volume of 1,284,643 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,769,515. The stock has a market capitalization of $25.35 billion, a PE ratio of 25.46, a P/E/G ratio of 3.47 and a beta of 0.88. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.70, a current ratio of 0.20 and a quick ratio of 0.20. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $68.74 and a 200 day moving average of $69.46. Equity Residential has a one year low of $59.41 and a one year high of $78.84.

Equity Residential (NYSE:EQR - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 29th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.95 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.93 by $0.02. The company had revenue of $760.81 million for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $769.43 million. Equity Residential had a return on equity of 8.93% and a net margin of 33.11%. Equity Residential's revenue for the quarter was up 4.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm posted $0.93 EPS. Analysts expect that Equity Residential will post 3.98 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Equity Residential Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, July 11th. Investors of record on Tuesday, June 24th will be paid a $0.6925 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, June 24th. This represents a $2.77 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.15%. Equity Residential's payout ratio is 105.73%.

Equity Residential Company 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.