Van ECK Associates Corp Sells 9,502 Shares of Equity Residential $EQR

Van ECK Associates Corp reduced its holdings in shares of Equity Residential (NYSE:EQR) by 4.1% during the second quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 222,785 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after selling 9,502 shares during the quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp owned about 0.06% of Equity Residential worth $15,134,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Empowered Funds LLC lifted its position in shares of Equity Residential by 3.1% during the first quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 7,489 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $536,000 after acquiring an additional 226 shares in the last quarter. Cresset Asset Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Equity Residential by 13.9% during the 2nd quarter. Cresset Asset Management LLC now owns 4,836 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $330,000 after purchasing an additional 590 shares during the period. Jump Financial LLC raised its stake in shares of Equity Residential by 96.1% during the 2nd quarter. Jump Financial LLC now owns 11,300 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $763,000 after purchasing an additional 5,537 shares during the period. Federated Hermes Inc. purchased a new stake in Equity Residential during the 2nd quarter worth about $100,000. Finally, Cerity Partners LLC boosted its stake in Equity Residential by 170.7% in the 2nd quarter. Cerity Partners LLC now owns 20,646 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $1,393,000 after purchasing an additional 13,018 shares during the period. 92.68% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Equity Residential Price Performance

EQR stock opened at $63.68 on Tuesday. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $66.94 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $64.60. The stock has a market cap of $23.88 billion, a PE ratio of 27.69, a P/E/G ratio of 5.53 and a beta of 0.73. Equity Residential has a one year low of $57.57 and a one year high of $71.50. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.77, a current ratio of 0.19 and a quick ratio of 0.19.

Equity Residential (NYSE:EQR) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 22nd. The real estate investment trust reported $1.02 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.01 by $0.01. Equity Residential had a net margin of 27.97% and a return on equity of 8.06%. The firm had revenue of $785.05 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $787.28 million. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $0.99 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 2.1% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts predict that Equity Residential will post 4.08 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Equity Residential Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, July 10th. Shareholders of record on Monday, June 29th were paid a dividend of $0.7025 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, June 29th. This represents a $2.81 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.4%. Equity Residential’s payout ratio is 122.17%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts have weighed in on EQR shares. Piper Sandler lifted their target price on Equity Residential from $72.00 to $75.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 21st. Royal Bank Of Canada cut shares of Equity Residential from an “outperform” rating to a “sector perform” rating and upped their price target for the stock from $69.00 to $70.00 in a report on Monday, June 8th. Stifel Nicolaus increased their price objective on Equity Residential from $78.25 to $79.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 27th. UBS Group lifted their price objective on Equity Residential from $71.00 to $73.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, May 14th. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald boosted their target price on Equity Residential from $64.00 to $66.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, May 4th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eight have assigned a Buy rating and fourteen have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $71.40.

About Equity Residential

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.