Principal Financial Group Inc. Boosts Position in Equity Residential (NYSE:EQR)

Principal Financial Group Inc. grew its position in shares of Equity Residential (NYSE:EQR - Free Report) by 5.7% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 2,740,092 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock after purchasing an additional 148,392 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc. owned approximately 0.72% of Equity Residential worth $167,584,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Van ECK Associates Corp grew its stake in shares of Equity Residential by 14.5% in the fourth quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 146,587 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $8,965,000 after purchasing an additional 18,556 shares during the last quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. raised its stake in Equity Residential by 39.3% in the third quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 234,022 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $13,739,000 after buying an additional 65,982 shares in the last quarter. Pallas Capital Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Equity Residential in the fourth quarter worth about $1,110,000. Wellington Management Group LLP boosted its position in shares of Equity Residential by 61.9% during the third quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 64,809 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $3,805,000 after purchasing an additional 24,787 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Banque Cantonale Vaudoise grew its position in shares of Equity Residential by 128.7% in the 3rd quarter. Banque Cantonale Vaudoise now owns 11,372 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $668,000 after buying an additional 6,400 shares during the period. 92.68% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts have weighed in on the stock. Morgan Stanley raised their target price on shares of Equity Residential from $58.00 to $64.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Monday, February 26th. The Goldman Sachs Group reissued a "buy" rating and issued a $70.00 target price on shares of Equity Residential in a research note on Thursday, February 22nd. Truist Financial lowered their price target on Equity Residential from $71.00 to $67.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, April 9th. BMO Capital Markets raised shares of Equity Residential from a "market perform" rating to an "outperform" rating and increased their price objective for the company from $68.00 to $70.00 in a research report on Monday, April 22nd. Finally, Raymond James raised shares of Equity Residential from an "underperform" rating to a "market perform" rating in a report on Monday, March 18th. Eleven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Equity Residential currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $67.04.

Insider Activity at Equity Residential

In related news, Director Mary Kay Haben sold 3,241 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Friday, April 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $65.48, for a total value of $212,220.68. Following the sale, the director now owns 9,720 shares in the company, valued at $636,465.60. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. In related news, CAO Ian Kaufman sold 716 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $57.80, for a total transaction of $41,384.80. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 23,949 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,384,252.20. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Director Mary Kay Haben sold 3,241 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Friday, April 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $65.48, for a total transaction of $212,220.68. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 9,720 shares in the company, valued at $636,465.60. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 8,860 shares of company stock valued at $566,034. Corporate insiders own 1.00% of the company's stock.

Equity Residential Price Performance

Shares of EQR traded down $0.06 during trading hours on Monday, reaching $66.74. 1,411,614 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,078,535. The company has a market cap of $25.33 billion, a P/E ratio of 27.79, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.54 and a beta of 0.82. The company has a current ratio of 0.23, a quick ratio of 0.23 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.64. The company's 50-day moving average price is $63.14 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $60.36. Equity Residential has a 52-week low of $52.57 and a 52-week high of $69.45.

Equity Residential (NYSE:EQR - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 23rd. The real estate investment trust reported $0.93 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.91 by $0.02. The firm had revenue of $730.80 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $728.09 million. Equity Residential had a return on equity of 8.18% and a net margin of 31.70%. The business's quarterly revenue was up 3.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $0.87 earnings per share. On average, analysts anticipate that Equity Residential will post 3.87 earnings per share for the current year.

Equity Residential Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, April 12th. Investors of record on Monday, March 25th were given a dividend of $0.675 per share. This is a positive change from Equity Residential's previous quarterly dividend of $0.66. The ex-dividend date was Friday, March 22nd. This represents a $2.70 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.05%. Equity Residential's dividend payout ratio is currently 112.03%.

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.

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