Blue Trust Inc. Buys 3,909 Shares of Equity Residential (NYSE:EQR)

Blue Trust Inc. increased its position in Equity Residential (NYSE:EQR) by 233.1% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 5,586 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after purchasing an additional 3,909 shares during the quarter. Blue Trust Inc.’s holdings in Equity Residential were worth $387,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Fidelis Capital Partners LLC bought a new stake in shares of Equity Residential in the first quarter valued at about $27,000. UMB Bank n.a. lifted its position in shares of Equity Residential by 69.6% in the 3rd quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 475 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $35,000 after purchasing an additional 195 shares during the period. Massmutual Trust Co. FSB ADV lifted its position in shares of Equity Residential by 41.9% in the 2nd quarter. Massmutual Trust Co. FSB ADV now owns 525 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $36,000 after purchasing an additional 155 shares during the period. HHM Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of Equity Residential by 146.6% during the second quarter. HHM Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 550 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $38,000 after purchasing an additional 327 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Richardson Financial Services Inc. bought a new position in Equity Residential in the first quarter worth approximately $41,000. 92.68% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts have issued reports on the company. BNP Paribas initiated coverage on Equity Residential in a research report on Wednesday, September 11th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $83.00 target price on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company downgraded shares of Equity Residential from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and boosted their target price for the stock from $69.00 to $77.00 in a report on Monday, August 26th. Evercore ISI raised their price target on shares of Equity Residential from $75.00 to $76.00 and gave the company an “in-line” rating in a report on Monday, September 16th. Wedbush lifted their price objective on shares of Equity Residential from $68.00 to $75.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, August 5th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upgraded shares of Equity Residential from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their target price for the company from $62.00 to $83.00 in a research note on Tuesday, September 10th. Twelve equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $75.97.

Equity Residential Trading Up 2.3 %

Equity Residential stock opened at $75.87 on Thursday. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $74.52 and a 200 day moving average price of $69.55. The company has a market capitalization of $28.80 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.48, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 6.05 and a beta of 0.89. Equity Residential has a 52 week low of $52.57 and a 52 week high of $78.83. The company has a quick ratio of 0.21, a current ratio of 0.21 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.64.

Equity Residential (NYSE:EQR) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Monday, July 29th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.47 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.96 by ($0.49). Equity Residential had a net margin of 32.83% and a return on equity of 8.53%. The business had revenue of $734.20 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $735.26 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $0.94 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was up 2.4% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts anticipate 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 was paid on Friday, October 11th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, September 24th were issued a $0.675 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, September 24th. This represents a $2.70 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.56%. Equity Residential’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 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.