Signaturefd LLC Cuts Position in Equity Residential (NYSE:EQR)

Signaturefd LLC reduced its stake in shares of Equity Residential (NYSE:EQR) by 45.2% during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 2,002 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after selling 1,654 shares during the period. Signaturefd LLC’s holdings in Equity Residential were worth $122,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in EQR. Cornercap Investment Counsel Inc. boosted its holdings in Equity Residential by 2.6% during the fourth quarter. Cornercap Investment Counsel Inc. now owns 7,291 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $446,000 after buying an additional 185 shares in the last quarter. Czech National Bank boosted its stake in shares of Equity Residential by 0.4% during the 4th quarter. Czech National Bank now owns 60,520 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $3,701,000 after acquiring an additional 236 shares in the last quarter. Covestor Ltd grew its holdings in shares of Equity Residential by 17.3% in the 3rd quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 1,626 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $95,000 after acquiring an additional 240 shares during the period. Allworth Financial LP increased its stake in Equity Residential by 120.8% in the 4th quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 488 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $30,000 after purchasing an additional 267 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Baldwin Brothers LLC MA raised its holdings in Equity Residential by 34.1% during the fourth quarter. Baldwin Brothers LLC MA now owns 1,145 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $70,000 after purchasing an additional 291 shares during the last quarter. 92.68% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

EQR has been the subject of several research reports. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their price target on Equity Residential from $65.00 to $66.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 1st. BMO Capital Markets raised shares of Equity Residential from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and upped their price target for the company from $68.00 to $70.00 in a report on Monday, April 22nd. The Goldman Sachs Group reissued a “buy” rating and set a $70.00 price objective on shares of Equity Residential in a research note on Thursday, February 22nd. Morgan Stanley upped their target price on Equity Residential from $58.00 to $64.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday, February 26th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft initiated coverage on Equity Residential in a research report on Tuesday, January 30th. They set a “hold” rating and a $64.00 price target for the company. Ten research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $67.04.

Equity Residential Price Performance

EQR opened at $65.30 on Tuesday. Equity Residential has a 1 year low of $52.57 and a 1 year high of $69.45. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $62.10 and its 200 day simple moving average is $59.87. The stock has a market capitalization of $24.74 billion, a PE ratio of 27.10, a P/E/G ratio of 3.78 and a beta of 0.84. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.64, a quick ratio of 0.30 and a current ratio of 0.23.

Equity Residential (NYSE:EQR) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 23rd. The real estate investment trust reported $0.93 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.91 by $0.02. The company had revenue of $730.80 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $728.09 million. Equity Residential had a net margin of 31.70% and a return on equity of 8.18%. Equity Residential’s revenue for the quarter was up 3.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $0.87 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Equity Residential will post 3.85 EPS for the current year.

Equity Residential Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, April 12th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 25th were paid a dividend of $0.675 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, March 22nd. This is a positive change from Equity Residential’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.66. This represents a $2.70 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.13%. Equity Residential’s dividend payout ratio is currently 112.03%.

Insider Transactions at Equity Residential

In other news, COO Michael L. Manelis sold 1,639 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $59.43, for a total transaction of $97,405.77. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer now owns 31,053 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,845,479.79. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In related news, COO Michael L. Manelis sold 1,639 shares of Equity Residential stock in a transaction on Monday, February 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $59.43, for a total transaction of $97,405.77. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer now owns 31,053 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,845,479.79. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CFO Robert Garechana sold 876 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $57.80, for a total transaction of $50,632.80. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 20,933 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,209,927.40. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 3,280 shares of company stock worth $192,335 in the last three months. 1.00% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

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.