Vestcor Inc Acquires 106,863 Shares of Equity Residential $EQR

Key Points

• Vestcor Inc sharply increased its stake in Equity Residential by 1,432.1% in the fourth quarter, buying 106,863 additional shares. The firm now owns 114,325 shares valued at about $7.2 million.
• Analysts have been mostly constructive on EQR, with several firms raising price targets and ratings. The consensus view is now “Moderate Buy” with an average price target of $69.90.
• Equity Residential recently raised its quarterly dividend to $0.7025 per share, or $2.81 annually, for a yield of about 4.1%. However, the company also reported quarterly EPS of $0.24, which missed estimates.

Vestcor Inc boosted its holdings in Equity Residential (NYSE:EQR - Free Report) by 1,432.1% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 114,325 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock after purchasing an additional 106,863 shares during the quarter. Vestcor Inc's holdings in Equity Residential were worth $7,207,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in EQR. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Equity Residential by 2.3% during the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 57,597,658 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $3,728,296,000 after acquiring an additional 1,281,354 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of Equity Residential during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $2,201,674,000. State Street Corp increased its holdings in shares of Equity Residential by 2.8% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 24,922,935 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $1,630,103,000 after acquiring an additional 688,854 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Equity Residential by 1.1% during the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 10,258,275 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $644,412,000 after acquiring an additional 114,604 shares in the last quarter. Finally, First Eagle Investment Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Equity Residential by 0.5% during the fourth quarter. First Eagle Investment Management LLC now owns 9,242,013 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $582,617,000 after acquiring an additional 44,127 shares in the last quarter. 92.68% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

EQR has been the subject of several recent research reports. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their price objective on Equity Residential from $78.25 to $79.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Wednesday, May 27th. Barclays boosted their price objective on Equity Residential from $75.00 to $76.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Monday, April 27th. Wall Street Zen downgraded Equity Residential from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a report on Saturday, May 2nd. Bank of America upgraded Equity Residential from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $76.00 price objective for the company in a report on Wednesday, May 27th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on Equity Residential from $62.00 to $64.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a report on Thursday, April 23rd. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, ten have given a Buy rating and twelve have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $69.90.

Equity Residential Trading Up 0.5%

Shares of Equity Residential stock opened at $68.21 on Friday. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $63.63 and a 200 day simple moving average of $62.39. Equity Residential has a 12-month low of $57.57 and a 12-month high of $70.21. The company has a market capitalization of $25.56 billion, a P/E ratio of 27.29, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.39 and a beta of 0.75. The company has a current ratio of 0.18, a quick ratio of 0.18 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.77.

Equity Residential (NYSE:EQR - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 28th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.24 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.33 by ($0.09). Equity Residential had a return on equity of 8.57% and a net margin of 30.63%.The company had revenue of $779.85 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $781.79 million. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $0.95 EPS. The company's quarterly revenue was up 2.5% compared to the same quarter last year. Equity Residential has set its FY 2026 guidance at 4.020-4.140 EPS and its Q2 2026 guidance at 0.980-1.020 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Equity Residential will post 4.09 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Equity Residential Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, April 10th. Investors of record on Monday, March 30th were issued a dividend of $0.7025 per share. This represents a $2.81 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.1%. This is an increase from Equity Residential's previous quarterly dividend of $0.69. The ex-dividend date was Monday, March 30th. Equity Residential's dividend payout ratio is currently 112.40%.

Equity Residential Profile

Equity Residential NYSE: EQR is a publicly traded real estate investment trust that acquires, develops, owns and operates rental apartment properties. Headquartered in Chicago, the company focuses on delivering professionally managed, market-rate apartment homes and related services to renters. Its operations cover a range of property types, including high-rise and mid-rise assets, with amenities and on-site management designed to support resident retention and occupancy.

The company's core activities include property acquisitions, development and redevelopment, leasing, and day-to-day property management.

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