Handelsbanken Fonder AB Purchases 7,976 Shares of Equity Residential (NYSE:EQR)

Handelsbanken Fonder AB increased its position in shares of Equity Residential (NYSE:EQR) by 4.6% during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 180,766 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after acquiring an additional 7,976 shares during the period. Handelsbanken Fonder AB’s holdings in Equity Residential were worth $11,056,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd increased its holdings in Equity Residential by 1.6% in the 4th quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd now owns 96,180 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $5,882,000 after acquiring an additional 1,490 shares during the last quarter. Carmel Capital Partners LLC increased its holdings in Equity Residential by 27.7% in the 4th quarter. Carmel Capital Partners LLC now owns 5,267 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $322,000 after acquiring an additional 1,142 shares during the last quarter. Lindbrook Capital LLC increased its holdings in Equity Residential by 144.4% in the 4th quarter. Lindbrook Capital LLC now owns 716 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $44,000 after acquiring an additional 423 shares during the last quarter. abrdn plc increased its holdings in Equity Residential by 9.4% in the 4th quarter. abrdn plc now owns 245,325 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $15,004,000 after acquiring an additional 21,024 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Livforsakringsbolaget Skandia Omsesidigt increased its holdings in Equity Residential by 122.1% in the 4th quarter. Livforsakringsbolaget Skandia Omsesidigt now owns 1,155 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $71,000 after acquiring an additional 635 shares during the last quarter. 92.68% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Equity Residential Price Performance

Equity Residential stock opened at $64.61 on Thursday. The stock has a market cap of $24.48 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.81, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.66 and a beta of 0.84. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.66, a current ratio of 0.30 and a quick ratio of 0.30. Equity Residential has a 1 year low of $52.57 and a 1 year high of $69.45. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $61.80 and a two-hundred day moving average of $59.77.

Equity Residential (NYSE:EQR) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 23rd. The real estate investment trust reported $0.93 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.91 by $0.02. Equity Residential had a net margin of 31.70% and a return on equity of 8.19%. The company had revenue of $730.80 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $728.09 million. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $0.87 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 3.6% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts forecast that Equity Residential will post 3.86 earnings per share for the current year.

Equity Residential Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, April 12th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 25th were issued a $0.675 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, March 22nd. This represents a $2.70 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.18%. This is a positive change from Equity Residential’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.66. Equity Residential’s payout ratio is currently 112.03%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

EQR has been the topic of a number of research reports. Morgan Stanley lifted their price target on shares of Equity Residential from $58.00 to $64.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Monday, February 26th. Mizuho dropped their price objective on shares of Equity Residential from $62.00 to $61.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, February 28th. BMO Capital Markets raised shares of Equity Residential from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and lifted their price objective for the stock from $68.00 to $70.00 in a research note on Monday. The Goldman Sachs Group reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $70.00 price objective on shares of Equity Residential in a research note on Thursday, February 22nd. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft initiated coverage on shares of Equity Residential in a research note on Tuesday, January 30th. They set a “hold” rating and a $64.00 price target for the company. Ten investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Equity Residential currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $65.75.

Insider Activity

In other news, CFO Robert Garechana sold 876 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $57.80, for a total value of $50,632.80. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 20,933 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,209,927.40. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. In related news, CFO Robert Garechana sold 876 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $57.80, for a total transaction of $50,632.80. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 20,933 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,209,927.40. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, COO Michael L. Manelis sold 1,639 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $59.43, for a total transaction of $97,405.77. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer now owns 31,053 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,845,479.79. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 3,280 shares of company stock worth $192,335. 1.00% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

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.