Voya Investment Management LLC Sells 52,822 Shares of Equity Residential $EQR

Key Points

• Voya Investment Management LLC reduced its holdings in Equity Residential by 24.7%, selling over 52,000 shares, bringing its total ownership to 161,200 shares valued at approximately $11.54 million.
• Equity Residential reported earnings of $0.99 per share for the last quarter, matching analysts' expectations, with revenue increasing 4.7% year-over-year to $768.83 million.
• The company announced a quarterly dividend of $0.6925 per share, resulting in an annualized dividend yield of 4.3%, despite a payout ratio exceeding 100%.

Voya Investment Management LLC cut its holdings in Equity Residential (NYSE:EQR - Free Report) by 24.7% during the first quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 161,200 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock after selling 52,822 shares during the quarter. Voya Investment Management LLC's holdings in Equity Residential were worth $11,539,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of EQR. Nuveen LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Equity Residential in the 1st quarter worth about $165,442,000. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD boosted its stake in Equity Residential by 5.6% in the 1st quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 20,711,588 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $1,482,537,000 after purchasing an additional 1,101,027 shares in the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its stake in Equity Residential by 7,177.2% in the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 506,930 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $36,286,000 after purchasing an additional 499,964 shares in the last quarter. National Bank of Canada FI boosted its stake in Equity Residential by 190.9% in the 1st quarter. National Bank of Canada FI now owns 674,373 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $48,272,000 after purchasing an additional 442,584 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Eventide Asset Management LLC bought a new position in Equity Residential in the 1st quarter worth about $27,944,000. 92.68% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on EQR. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price target on shares of Equity Residential from $76.00 to $75.00 in a research note on Tuesday. Stifel Nicolaus set a $80.50 price target on shares of Equity Residential and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 5th. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price target on shares of Equity Residential from $75.00 to $68.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, August 27th. Truist Financial dropped their price target on shares of Equity Residential from $78.00 to $75.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, August 29th. Finally, Wedbush restated a "neutral" rating and set a $75.00 target price on shares of Equity Residential in a research note on Wednesday, May 28th. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and seven have assigned a Hold rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $75.25.

Equity Residential Price Performance

EQR traded up $0.29 during trading on Friday, reaching $65.16. 5,032,219 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,793,073. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.75, a quick ratio of 0.17 and a current ratio of 0.17. The company has a market cap of $24.88 billion, a P/E ratio of 24.59, a PEG ratio of 3.29 and a beta of 0.93. Equity Residential has a 12-month low of $59.41 and a 12-month high of $78.32. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $65.27 and a 200 day simple moving average of $67.58.

Equity Residential (NYSE:EQR - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Monday, August 4th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.99 EPS for the quarter, meeting analysts' consensus estimates of $0.99. The firm had revenue of $768.83 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $770.60 million. Equity Residential had a return on equity of 9.05% and a net margin of 33.22%.The company's quarterly revenue was up 4.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $0.97 EPS. Equity Residential has set its FY 2025 guidance at 3.970-4.030 EPS. Q3 2025 guidance at 0.990-1.030 EPS. On average, equities analysts forecast that Equity Residential will post 3.98 EPS for the current year.

Equity Residential Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, October 10th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, September 25th will be given a dividend of $0.6925 per share. This represents a $2.77 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.3%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, September 25th. Equity Residential's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 104.53%.

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.