Robert Garechana Sells 6,357 Shares of Equity Residential (NYSE:EQR) Stock

Equity Residential (NYSE:EQR) CFO Robert Garechana sold 6,357 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, June 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $69.08, for a total transaction of $439,141.56. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 14,576 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,006,910.08. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website.

Equity Residential Trading Up 0.4 %

Shares of EQR stock opened at $68.30 on Friday. Equity Residential has a 52-week low of $52.57 and a 52-week high of $69.57. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.64, a quick ratio of 0.23 and a current ratio of 0.23. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $65.85 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $62.73. The company has a market capitalization of $25.92 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.12, a PEG ratio of 3.94 and a beta of 0.85.

Equity Residential (NYSE:EQR) last released its 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. Equity Residential had a net margin of 31.70% and a return on equity of 8.18%. The firm had revenue of $730.80 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $728.09 million. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $0.87 EPS. The company’s revenue was up 3.6% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts anticipate that Equity Residential will post 3.88 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Equity Residential Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, July 12th. Stockholders of record on Monday, July 1st will be given a dividend of $0.675 per share. This represents a $2.70 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.95%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, July 1st. Equity Residential’s dividend payout ratio is currently 112.03%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages have recently weighed in on EQR. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on shares of Equity Residential from $66.00 to $69.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, May 31st. Raymond James upgraded shares of Equity Residential from an “underperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a report on Monday, March 18th. Evercore ISI lowered shares of Equity Residential from an “outperform” rating to an “in-line” rating and set a $70.00 price objective on the stock. in a report on Monday, May 13th. Piper Sandler upped their price objective on shares of Equity Residential from $62.00 to $70.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, April 29th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets upgraded shares of Equity Residential from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and upped their price objective for the company from $68.00 to $70.00 in a report on Monday, April 22nd. Twelve investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $68.47.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Financial Gravity Asset Management Inc. grew its position in shares of Equity Residential by 593.9% during the 3rd quarter. Financial Gravity Asset Management Inc. now owns 458 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $25,000 after acquiring an additional 392 shares during the period. Fidelis Capital Partners LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Equity Residential during the 1st quarter valued at approximately $27,000. Bruce G. Allen Investments LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Equity Residential during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $28,000. Allworth Financial LP lifted its stake in shares of Equity Residential by 120.8% during the 4th quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 488 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $30,000 after buying an additional 267 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Voisard Asset Management Group Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Equity Residential during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $33,000. 92.68% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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.