Victory Capital Management Inc. Sells 9,567 Shares of Equity Residential (NYSE:EQR)

Key Points

• Victory Capital Management Inc. reduced its stake in Equity Residential by 8.2%, holding 106,954 shares valued at approximately $7.65 million after the sale.
• Equity Residential reported $0.95 EPS for the quarter, exceeding expectations, with annual revenue growth of 4.1%
• The company announced a quarterly dividend of $0.6925 per share, yielding 4.11%, despite a payout ratio exceeding 100%.

Victory Capital Management Inc. lowered its position in Equity Residential (NYSE:EQR - Free Report) by 8.2% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 106,954 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock after selling 9,567 shares during the period. Victory Capital Management Inc.'s holdings in Equity Residential were worth $7,656,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. APG Asset Management US Inc. boosted its holdings in Equity Residential by 0.5% in the fourth quarter. APG Asset Management US Inc. now owns 11,664,576 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $837,050,000 after acquiring an additional 57,660 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in Equity Residential by 1.8% in the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 9,519,627 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $681,594,000 after acquiring an additional 165,683 shares in the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. boosted its holdings in Equity Residential by 12.0% in the fourth quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 6,522,442 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $468,050,000 after acquiring an additional 696,343 shares in the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp boosted its holdings in Equity Residential by 53.1% in the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 6,476,004 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $464,718,000 after acquiring an additional 2,246,555 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its holdings in Equity Residential by 1.2% in the fourth quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 5,224,576 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $374,911,000 after acquiring an additional 60,099 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 92.68% of the company's stock.

Equity Residential Stock Performance

Shares of EQR traded down $0.27 on Friday, reaching $67.38. 1,507,273 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,727,810. The company has a current ratio of 0.20, a quick ratio of 0.20 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.70. The stock has a market cap of $25.60 billion, a PE ratio of 25.72, a PEG ratio of 3.48 and a beta of 0.88. The stock's 50 day simple moving average is $68.14 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $69.22. Equity Residential has a 52-week low of $59.41 and a 52-week high of $78.83.

Equity Residential (NYSE:EQR - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, April 29th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.95 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.93 by $0.02. Equity Residential had a return on equity of 8.93% and a net margin of 33.11%. The business had revenue of $760.81 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $769.43 million. During the same period last year, the business posted $0.93 earnings per share. The business's revenue for the quarter was up 4.1% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts forecast that Equity Residential will post 3.98 earnings per share 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 given a $0.6925 dividend. This represents a $2.77 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.11%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, June 24th. Equity Residential's dividend payout ratio is currently 105.73%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

EQR has been the topic of several recent research reports. Evercore ISI upgraded Equity Residential from an "in-line" rating to an "outperform" rating and increased their price target for the stock from $74.00 to $75.00 in a report on Monday, July 7th. Mizuho lowered their price objective on Equity Residential from $76.00 to $71.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research note on Friday, May 23rd. Barclays increased their price objective on Equity Residential from $79.00 to $83.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Friday, May 9th. UBS Group lowered their price objective on Equity Residential from $84.00 to $76.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, July 15th. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada increased their price objective on Equity Residential from $75.00 to $76.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. Eight equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $78.81.

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.