Equity Residential (NYSE:EQR) Short Interest Down 8.1% in June

Equity Residential (NYSE:EQR) saw a large decline in short interest in the month of June. As of June 15th, there was short interest totalling 5,350,000 shares, a decline of 8.1% from the May 31st total of 5,820,000 shares. Approximately 1.4% of the shares of the company are short sold. Based on an average trading volume of 1,860,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 2.9 days.

Equity Residential Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:EQR traded down $0.71 during trading on Wednesday, reaching $67.49. The stock had a trading volume of 713,244 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,973,196. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.64, a quick ratio of 0.23 and a current ratio of 0.23. Equity Residential has a 1-year low of $52.57 and a 1-year high of $69.65. The stock has a market cap of $25.62 billion, a PE ratio of 28.00, a PEG ratio of 3.98 and a beta of 0.87. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $66.36 and a 200-day moving average price of $62.98.

Equity Residential (NYSE:EQR) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, April 23rd. The real estate investment trust reported $0.93 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.91 by $0.02. Equity Residential had a net margin of 31.70% and a return on equity of 8.18%. The company had revenue of $730.80 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $728.09 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $0.87 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 3.6% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts forecast that Equity Residential will post 3.88 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Equity Residential Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, July 12th. Investors of record on Monday, July 1st will be paid a dividend of $0.675 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, July 1st. This represents a $2.70 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.00%. Equity Residential’s dividend payout ratio is presently 112.03%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have recently commented on EQR. Wells Fargo & Company upped their target price on Equity Residential from $66.00 to $69.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, May 31st. Wedbush reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and set a $68.00 price objective on shares of Equity Residential in a research note on Monday, April 29th. Piper Sandler upgraded shares of Equity Residential from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and boosted their target price for the company from $70.00 to $80.00 in a research note on Friday, June 28th. Evercore ISI lowered shares of Equity Residential from an “outperform” rating to an “in-line” rating and set a $70.00 price target on the stock. in a research report on Monday, May 13th. Finally, Truist Financial upped their price objective on shares of Equity Residential from $67.00 to $73.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, June 24th. Eleven research 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 currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $69.09.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, EVP Alexander Brackenridge sold 4,027 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, April 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $65.01, for a total value of $261,795.27. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 69,901 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,544,264.01. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In related news, CFO Robert Garechana sold 6,357 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, June 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $69.08, for a total transaction of $439,141.56. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 14,576 shares in the company, valued at $1,006,910.08. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, EVP Alexander Brackenridge sold 4,027 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, April 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $65.01, for a total value of $261,795.27. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 69,901 shares in the company, valued at $4,544,264.01. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 13,625 shares of company stock valued at $913,158. 1.00% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its position in Equity Residential by 0.7% during the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 57,395,793 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $3,369,707,000 after buying an additional 372,181 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Equity Residential in the 4th quarter worth $2,143,388,000. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD raised its holdings in shares of Equity Residential by 1.9% during the 1st quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 20,267,675 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $1,279,095,000 after acquiring an additional 381,236 shares during the period. APG Asset Management US Inc. boosted its position in shares of Equity Residential by 0.6% during 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 acquiring an additional 71,716 shares during the last quarter. Finally, First Eagle Investment Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Equity Residential by 5.9% in the fourth quarter. First Eagle Investment Management LLC now owns 9,325,268 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $570,333,000 after purchasing an additional 516,941 shares during the period. 92.68% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.