Creative Planning Acquires 1,310 Shares of Equity Residential (NYSE:EQR)

Creative Planning lifted its holdings in shares of Equity Residential (NYSE:EQR) by 7.9% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 17,957 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after acquiring an additional 1,310 shares during the quarter. Creative Planning’s holdings in Equity Residential were worth $1,337,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the business. Principal Financial Group Inc. boosted its position in Equity Residential by 482.3% during the second quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 7,153,749 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $496,040,000 after purchasing an additional 5,925,177 shares during the period. National Bank of Canada FI boosted its holdings in shares of Equity Residential by 679.0% during the 2nd quarter. National Bank of Canada FI now owns 594,774 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $40,528,000 after buying an additional 518,424 shares during the period. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Holdings Inc. grew its stake in Equity Residential by 39.6% in the 2nd quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Holdings Inc. now owns 1,676,445 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $116,245,000 after buying an additional 475,124 shares during the last quarter. Sei Investments Co. raised its holdings in Equity Residential by 77.5% in the 1st quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 1,061,862 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $67,014,000 after acquiring an additional 463,664 shares during the period. Finally, SG Americas Securities LLC lifted its position in Equity Residential by 793.8% during the first quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 444,791 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $28,071,000 after acquiring an additional 395,029 shares during the last quarter. 92.68% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Equity Residential Stock Performance

Equity Residential stock opened at $73.95 on Thursday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.21, a current ratio of 0.21 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.64. The stock has a market cap of $28.07 billion, a PE ratio of 30.68, a P/E/G ratio of 6.17 and a beta of 0.89. Equity Residential has a 12-month low of $52.57 and a 12-month high of $78.83. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $74.83 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $69.96.

Equity Residential (NYSE:EQR) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Monday, July 29th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.47 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.96 by ($0.49). The company had revenue of $734.20 million for 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 company’s revenue for the quarter was up 2.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm posted $0.94 earnings per share. As a group, analysts expect that Equity Residential will post 3.89 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Equity Residential Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, October 11th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, September 24th were issued a dividend of $0.675 per share. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, September 24th. This represents a $2.70 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.65%. Equity Residential’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 112.03%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts have recently commented on EQR shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped 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, September 16th. BNP Paribas started coverage on Equity Residential in a research report on Wednesday, September 11th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $83.00 price objective on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company cut shares of Equity Residential from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and boosted their target price for the company from $69.00 to $77.00 in a research report on Monday, August 26th. 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 research report on Tuesday, September 10th. Finally, Wedbush boosted their price objective on shares of Equity Residential from $68.00 to $75.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, August 5th. Twelve investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $75.97.

About Equity Residential

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.