Choreo LLC Purchases New Shares in Equity Residential (NYSE:EQR)

Choreo LLC purchased a new stake in Equity Residential (NYSE:EQR) during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor purchased 3,890 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock, valued at approximately $265,000.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of EQR. Principal Securities Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Equity Residential in the fourth quarter valued at about $49,000. Envestnet Portfolio Solutions Inc. bought a new stake in Equity Residential during the fourth quarter worth about $208,000. Avantax Advisory Services Inc. lifted its position in Equity Residential by 11.8% during the fourth quarter. Avantax Advisory Services Inc. now owns 7,856 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $480,000 after purchasing an additional 830 shares during the period. UBS Group AG lifted its position in Equity Residential by 0.9% during the fourth quarter. UBS Group AG now owns 887,030 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $54,251,000 after purchasing an additional 8,202 shares during the period. Finally, Coldstream Capital Management Inc. bought a new stake in Equity Residential during the fourth quarter worth about $212,000. 92.68% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms recently weighed in on EQR. The Goldman Sachs Group began coverage on shares of Equity Residential in a research report on Wednesday, September 4th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $81.00 price objective for the company. Evercore ISI upped their price objective on shares of Equity Residential from $75.00 to $76.00 and gave the stock an “in-line” rating in a research report on Monday. Mizuho upped their price objective on shares of Equity Residential from $61.00 to $64.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 30th. Wedbush increased their target price on shares of Equity Residential from $68.00 to $75.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, August 5th. Finally, UBS Group increased their target price on shares of Equity Residential from $75.00 to $82.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, July 18th. Twelve research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $75.62.

Insider Transactions at Equity Residential

In other news, CFO Robert Garechana sold 6,357 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 sale, the chief financial officer now owns 14,576 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,006,910.08. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Insiders own 1.00% of the company’s stock.

Equity Residential Stock Down 0.3 %

Shares of NYSE EQR opened at $77.08 on Thursday. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $72.34 and a 200 day simple moving average of $67.45. The firm has a market cap of $29.26 billion, a PE ratio of 31.98, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.27 and a beta of 0.89. Equity Residential has a 1 year low of $52.57 and a 1 year high of $78.83. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.64, a current ratio of 0.21 and a quick ratio of 0.21.

Equity Residential (NYSE:EQR) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Monday, July 29th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.47 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.96 by ($0.49). The business had revenue of $734.20 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $735.26 million. Equity Residential had a net margin of 32.83% and a return on equity of 8.53%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 2.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $0.94 EPS. On average, research analysts forecast that Equity Residential will post 3.89 EPS for the current year.

Equity Residential Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, October 11th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, September 24th will be given a dividend of $0.675 per share. This represents a $2.70 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.50%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, September 24th. Equity Residential’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 112.03%.

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.