Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC Has $1.47 Million Stake in Equity Residential (NYSE:EQR)

Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC grew its holdings in Equity Residential (NYSE:EQR) by 4.3% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 20,599 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after acquiring an additional 850 shares during the quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC’s holdings in Equity Residential were worth $1,474,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the business. Keybank National Association OH grew its position in shares of Equity Residential by 2.0% in the 4th quarter. Keybank National Association OH now owns 7,001 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $502,000 after purchasing an additional 139 shares during the period. Transamerica Financial Advisors Inc. lifted its stake in Equity Residential by 4.1% in the fourth quarter. Transamerica Financial Advisors Inc. now owns 3,827 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $275,000 after buying an additional 151 shares in the last quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC lifted its stake in Equity Residential by 38.8% in the fourth quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 558 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $40,000 after buying an additional 156 shares in the last quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc boosted its holdings in shares of Equity Residential by 51.6% in the first quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 461 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $33,000 after buying an additional 157 shares during the period. Finally, MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB boosted its holdings in shares of Equity Residential by 27.6% in the first quarter. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB now owns 740 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $53,000 after buying an additional 160 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.68% of the company’s stock.

Equity Residential Stock Up 0.2%

Shares of NYSE EQR opened at $67.48 on Tuesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $25.64 billion, a P/E ratio of 25.76, a PEG ratio of 3.93 and a beta of 0.90. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $69.30 and its 200 day moving average is $69.74. Equity Residential has a 52 week low of $59.41 and a 52 week high of $78.84. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.70, a quick ratio of 0.20 and a current ratio of 0.20.

Equity Residential (NYSE:EQR) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, April 29th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.95 earnings per share 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 firm had revenue of $760.81 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $769.43 million. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $0.93 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 4.1% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts forecast that Equity Residential will post 3.98 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Equity Residential Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, July 11th. Investors 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 dividend yield of 4.10%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, June 24th. Equity Residential’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 105.73%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

EQR has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. Mizuho dropped their price objective on shares of Equity Residential from $76.00 to $71.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, May 23rd. Barclays lifted their price target on Equity Residential from $79.00 to $83.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, May 9th. Scotiabank cut their price target on Equity Residential from $82.00 to $78.00 and set a “sector perform” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, June 13th. Truist Financial increased their price objective on Equity Residential from $76.00 to $78.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, March 10th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus dropped their target price on Equity Residential from $82.25 to $80.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, April 30th. Nine research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Equity Residential currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $79.25.

About Equity Residential

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.