6,190 Shares in Equity Residential (NYSE:EQR) Bought by Waterloo Capital L.P.

Waterloo Capital L.P. bought a new position in shares of Equity Residential (NYSE:EQR) during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund bought 6,190 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock, valued at approximately $429,000.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in EQR. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD lifted its holdings in Equity Residential by 1.9% in the first quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 20,267,675 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $1,279,095,000 after buying an additional 381,236 shares during the period. APG Asset Management US Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Equity Residential by 0.6% in the 4th quarter. APG Asset Management US Inc. now owns 11,598,251 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $709,349,000 after purchasing an additional 71,716 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc. boosted its position in shares of Equity Residential by 482.3% during the 2nd quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 7,153,749 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $496,040,000 after purchasing an additional 5,925,177 shares in the last quarter. Centersquare Investment Management LLC grew its stake in Equity Residential by 5.9% during the fourth quarter. Centersquare Investment Management LLC now owns 5,527,431 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $338,058,000 after purchasing an additional 309,796 shares during the period. Finally, Canada Pension Plan Investment Board grew its stake in Equity Residential by 0.7% during the first quarter. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board now owns 4,941,360 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $311,849,000 after purchasing an additional 34,000 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 92.68% of the company’s stock.

Equity Residential Price Performance

EQR opened at $77.06 on Friday. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $72.53 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $67.52. The company has a market capitalization of $29.25 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.98, a P/E/G ratio of 4.27 and a beta of 0.89. 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 has a 1 year low of $52.57 and a 1 year high of $78.83.

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). Equity Residential had a return on equity of 8.53% and a net margin of 32.83%. The firm had revenue of $734.20 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $735.26 million. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $0.94 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 2.4% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts anticipate that Equity Residential will post 3.89 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Equity Residential Dividend Announcement

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

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CFO Robert Garechana sold 6,357 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, June 24th. The stock was 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 directly 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 available at the SEC website. Insiders own 1.00% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts have issued reports on EQR shares. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upgraded Equity Residential from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their price target for the stock from $62.00 to $83.00 in a report on Tuesday, September 10th. Scotiabank increased their target price on shares of Equity Residential from $77.00 to $81.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Monday. The Goldman Sachs Group assumed coverage on shares of Equity Residential in a research note on Wednesday, September 4th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $81.00 price target for the company. Wells Fargo & Company cut shares of Equity Residential from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and increased their price objective for the stock from $69.00 to $77.00 in a research report on Monday, August 26th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price on Equity Residential from $68.00 to $80.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday. Twelve investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $75.62.

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.