Equity Residential (NYSE:EQR) Announces Quarterly Earnings Results

Equity Residential (NYSE:EQR) issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday. The real estate investment trust reported $1.02 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.45 by $0.57, Zacks reports. Equity Residential had a net margin of 30.63% and a return on equity of 8.57%.

Equity Residential Trading Down 0.1%

Shares of EQR stock traded down $0.09 during trading hours on Wednesday, reaching $68.20. 2,667,375 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,784,403. Equity Residential has a 1-year low of $57.57 and a 1-year high of $71.50. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $67.12 and a 200 day moving average price of $63.83. The company has a quick ratio of 0.18, a current ratio of 0.18 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.77. The firm has a market capitalization of $25.57 billion, a PE ratio of 27.28, a PEG ratio of 5.46 and a beta of 0.74.

Equity Residential Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, July 10th. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 29th were given a $0.7025 dividend. This represents a $2.81 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.1%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, June 29th. Equity Residential’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 112.40%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Equity Residential

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Insigneo Advisory Services LLC increased its holdings in Equity Residential by 4.9% in the fourth quarter. Insigneo Advisory Services LLC now owns 3,543 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $223,000 after purchasing an additional 165 shares during the last quarter. Empowered Funds LLC boosted its holdings in Equity Residential by 2.3% during the fourth quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 9,165 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $571,000 after buying an additional 204 shares during the last quarter. United Capital Financial Advisors LLC boosted its stake in Equity Residential by 2.0% during the 3rd quarter. United Capital Financial Advisors LLC now owns 11,589 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $750,000 after acquiring an additional 227 shares during the last quarter. Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. grew its holdings in Equity Residential by 25.6% during the third quarter. Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. now owns 1,235 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $80,000 after purchasing an additional 252 shares during the period. Finally, Frontier Capital Management Co. LLC increased its stake in Equity Residential by 8.3% in the second quarter. Frontier Capital Management Co. LLC now owns 4,654 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $314,000 after purchasing an additional 358 shares in the last quarter. 92.68% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages have recently issued reports on EQR. Royal Bank Of Canada cut shares of Equity Residential from an “outperform” rating to a “sector perform” rating and lifted their price objective for the stock from $69.00 to $70.00 in a research note on Monday, June 8th. Scotiabank raised their target price on shares of Equity Residential from $67.00 to $70.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a report on Thursday, July 9th. Weiss Ratings lowered shares of Equity Residential from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “hold (c)” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 16th. Mizuho upped their price target on Equity Residential from $66.00 to $70.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, June 10th. Finally, Morgan Stanley upgraded Equity Residential from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and increased their price objective for the company from $72.00 to $74.00 in a research report on Thursday, March 26th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eight have given a Buy rating and fourteen have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Equity Residential presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $71.40.

Equity Residential Company 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.