Equity Residential (NYSE:EQR) Shares Bought by Cornercap Investment Counsel Inc.

Cornercap Investment Counsel Inc. raised its stake in Equity Residential (NYSE:EQRFree Report) by 2.6% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 7,291 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after acquiring an additional 185 shares during the quarter. Cornercap Investment Counsel Inc.’s holdings in Equity Residential were worth $446,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in EQR. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in shares of Equity Residential in the fourth quarter valued at $1,822,309,000. FMR LLC grew its position in shares of Equity Residential by 68.5% in the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 4,416,565 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $259,297,000 after purchasing an additional 1,795,772 shares during the period. State Street Corp grew its position in shares of Equity Residential by 5.4% in the first quarter. State Street Corp now owns 24,983,779 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $1,515,182,000 after purchasing an additional 1,269,082 shares during the period. Long Pond Capital LP purchased a new stake in shares of Equity Residential in the fourth quarter valued at $63,361,000. Finally, Invesco Ltd. grew its position in Equity Residential by 34.9% during the first quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 3,647,722 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $328,002,000 after acquiring an additional 943,870 shares during the period. 92.68% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Equity Residential Trading Up 1.2 %

NYSE:EQR opened at $60.40 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.66, a quick ratio of 0.30 and a current ratio of 0.30. Equity Residential has a one year low of $52.57 and a one year high of $69.45. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $61.42 and its 200 day simple moving average is $59.62. The stock has a market cap of $22.92 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.45, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.52 and a beta of 0.84.

Equity Residential (NYSE:EQRGet Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, January 30th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.82 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.00 by ($0.18). Equity Residential had a return on equity of 7.43% and a net margin of 29.07%. The business had revenue of $727.50 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $725.07 million. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $0.94 EPS. The company’s revenue was up 4.0% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Equity Residential will post 3.86 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Equity Residential Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, April 12th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 25th were paid a dividend of $0.675 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, March 22nd. This represents a $2.70 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.47%. This is a boost from Equity Residential’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.66. Equity Residential’s dividend payout ratio is presently 122.73%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

EQR has been the subject of a number of research reports. The Goldman Sachs Group reissued a “buy” rating and set a $70.00 price target on shares of Equity Residential in a research report on Thursday, February 22nd. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft initiated coverage on Equity Residential in a research report on Tuesday, January 30th. They set a “hold” rating and a $64.00 price target for the company. Barclays lowered their price target on Equity Residential from $69.00 to $67.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, February 20th. Truist Financial lowered their price target on Equity Residential from $71.00 to $67.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, April 9th. Finally, Mizuho decreased their target price on Equity Residential from $62.00 to $61.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, February 28th. Eleven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $65.32.

Get Our Latest Stock Report on EQR

Insider Buying and Selling at Equity Residential

In other Equity Residential news, CAO Ian Kaufman sold 716 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $57.80, for a total transaction of $41,384.80. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 23,949 shares in the company, valued at $1,384,252.20. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. In other Equity Residential news, CAO Ian Kaufman sold 716 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $57.80, for a total transaction of $41,384.80. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 23,949 shares in the company, valued at $1,384,252.20. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, COO Michael L. Manelis sold 1,639 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $59.43, for a total value of $97,405.77. Following the sale, the chief operating officer now owns 31,053 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,845,479.79. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 3,280 shares of company stock worth $192,335 over the last quarter. 1.69% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Equity Residential Company Profile

(Free Report)

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.

Further Reading

Institutional Ownership by Quarter for Equity Residential (NYSE:EQR)

Receive News & Ratings for Equity Residential Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for Equity Residential and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter.