Land & Buildings Investment Management LLC Takes $18.33 Million Position in Equity Residential (NYSE:EQR)

Land & Buildings Investment Management LLC bought a new position in Equity Residential (NYSE:EQR) in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund bought 264,320 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock, valued at approximately $18,328,000. Equity Residential comprises approximately 4.3% of Land & Buildings Investment Management LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 14th biggest holding. Land & Buildings Investment Management LLC owned 0.07% of Equity Residential as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Envestnet Portfolio Solutions Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Equity Residential in the 4th quarter worth approximately $208,000. Coldstream Capital Management Inc. bought a new stake in Equity Residential in the fourth quarter worth $212,000. Wells Fargo & Company MN boosted its position in Equity Residential by 2.3% during the fourth quarter. Wells Fargo & Company MN now owns 270,089 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $16,519,000 after buying an additional 6,026 shares during the period. US Bancorp DE boosted its position in Equity Residential by 0.4% during the fourth quarter. US Bancorp DE now owns 67,535 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $4,130,000 after buying an additional 251 shares during the period. Finally, Commerce Bank grew its stake in shares of Equity Residential by 52.7% during the fourth quarter. Commerce Bank now owns 19,299 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $1,180,000 after buying an additional 6,657 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.68% of the company’s stock.

Equity Residential Stock Up 1.1 %

NYSE:EQR opened at $77.44 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.64, a current ratio of 0.21 and a quick ratio of 0.21. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $72.91 and its 200-day moving average price is $67.79. The company has a market capitalization of $29.39 billion, a PE ratio of 32.13, a P/E/G 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.

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

Equity Residential Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, October 11th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, September 24th will be issued a $0.675 dividend. This represents a $2.70 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.49%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, September 24th. Equity Residential’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 112.03%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages recently weighed in on EQR. BNP Paribas started coverage on Equity Residential in a report on Wednesday, September 11th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $83.00 target price for the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price on shares of Equity Residential from $68.00 to $80.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, September 16th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised shares of Equity Residential from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their price target for the stock from $62.00 to $83.00 in a report on Tuesday, September 10th. Mizuho upped their price objective on shares of Equity Residential from $61.00 to $64.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, May 30th. Finally, UBS Group raised their target price on Equity Residential from $75.00 to $82.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 18th. Twelve investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $75.62.

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.