Blue Trust Inc. Grows Position in Equity Residential (NYSE:EQR)

Blue Trust Inc. raised its stake in shares of Equity Residential (NYSE:EQR) by 21.5% in the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 1,200 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after buying an additional 212 shares during the quarter. Blue Trust Inc.’s holdings in Equity Residential were worth $86,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in EQR. Ieq Capital LLC raised its stake in Equity Residential by 12.3% during the fourth quarter. Ieq Capital LLC now owns 4,426 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $318,000 after buying an additional 485 shares during the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp raised its stake in Equity Residential by 1.4% during the fourth quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 2,340,238 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $167,936,000 after buying an additional 32,651 shares during the last quarter. Siligmueller & Norvid Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Equity Residential during the fourth quarter valued at $734,000. Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. raised its stake in Equity Residential by 4.4% during the fourth quarter. Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. now owns 24,682 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $1,771,000 after buying an additional 1,048 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Proficio Capital Partners LLC purchased a new position in Equity Residential during the fourth quarter valued at $5,778,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.68% of the company’s stock.

Equity Residential Stock Performance

Shares of EQR opened at $65.65 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.70, a current ratio of 0.20 and a quick ratio of 0.20. Equity Residential has a one year low of $59.41 and a one year high of $78.84. The firm has a market capitalization of $24.94 billion, a P/E ratio of 25.06, a PEG ratio of 3.94 and a beta of 0.90. The business has a fifty day moving average of $69.33 and a 200 day moving average of $69.91.

Equity Residential (NYSE:EQR) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 29th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.95 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.93 by $0.02. Equity Residential had a return on equity of 8.93% and a net margin of 33.11%. The company had revenue of $760.81 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $769.43 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $0.93 earnings per share. Equity Residential’s revenue was up 4.1% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Equity Residential will post 3.98 EPS for the current year.

Equity Residential Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, July 11th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, June 24th will be issued a dividend of $0.6925 per share. This represents a $2.77 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.22%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, June 24th. Equity Residential’s dividend payout ratio is presently 105.73%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts have issued reports on EQR shares. Royal Bank Of Canada lifted their price objective on Equity Residential from $75.00 to $76.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. Barclays lifted their price objective on Equity Residential from $79.00 to $83.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, May 9th. Stifel Nicolaus decreased their price target on Equity Residential from $82.25 to $80.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, April 30th. Scotiabank decreased their price target on Equity Residential from $82.00 to $78.00 and set a “sector perform” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, June 13th. Finally, Wedbush restated a “neutral” rating and issued a $75.00 price target on shares of Equity Residential in a research note on Wednesday, May 28th. Nine equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $79.25.

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.