Short Interest in Equity Residential (NYSE:EQR) Drops By 20.7%

Equity Residential (NYSE:EQR) saw a large decrease in short interest in the month of October. As of October 31st, there was short interest totalling 4,700,000 shares, a decrease of 20.7% from the October 15th total of 5,930,000 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 1,550,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 3.0 days.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages have commented on EQR. Wedbush increased their price objective on shares of Equity Residential from $68.00 to $75.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, August 5th. Royal Bank of Canada reduced their target price on Equity Residential from $83.00 to $79.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Friday, November 1st. Piper Sandler increased their price objective on Equity Residential from $80.00 to $85.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 31st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target on Equity Residential from $68.00 to $80.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, September 16th. Finally, Truist Financial increased their price objective on Equity Residential from $73.00 to $77.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 29th. Eleven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $77.25.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Equity Residential

Hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Tobam raised its holdings in Equity Residential by 8.6% in the third quarter. Tobam now owns 1,927 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $143,000 after acquiring an additional 152 shares in the last quarter. Checchi Capital Advisers LLC increased its holdings in shares of Equity Residential by 4.5% in the 2nd quarter. Checchi Capital Advisers LLC now owns 3,522 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $244,000 after acquiring an additional 153 shares during the last quarter. Massmutual Trust Co. FSB ADV boosted its holdings in Equity Residential by 41.9% in the second 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. UMB Bank n.a. increased its stake in Equity Residential by 69.6% during the third quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 475 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $35,000 after purchasing an additional 195 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. lifted its holdings in Equity Residential by 32.7% in the second quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. now owns 811 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $56,000 after acquiring an additional 200 shares during the last quarter. 92.68% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Equity Residential Trading Up 0.5 %

NYSE EQR traded up $0.39 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $73.46. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 515,186 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,846,044. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.76, a current ratio of 0.13 and a quick ratio of 0.13. Equity Residential has a 52-week low of $54.53 and a 52-week high of $78.83. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $74.34 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $70.65. The firm has a market capitalization of $27.87 billion, a P/E ratio of 29.99, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 6.07 and a beta of 0.90.

Equity Residential Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, October 11th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, September 24th were given a $0.675 dividend. This represents a $2.70 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.68%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, September 24th. Equity Residential’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 110.66%.

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.