Values First Advisors Inc. Takes Position in Equity Residential (NYSE:EQR)

Values First Advisors Inc. purchased a new position in Equity Residential (NYSE:EQR) during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm purchased 1,533 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock, valued at approximately $114,000.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Park Avenue Securities LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Equity Residential by 34.5% in the first quarter. Park Avenue Securities LLC now owns 6,106 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $385,000 after purchasing an additional 1,566 shares during the period. LVW Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Equity Residential by 67.7% in the 1st quarter. LVW Advisors LLC now owns 6,156 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $389,000 after buying an additional 2,486 shares during the period. Diversified Trust Co bought a new position in shares of Equity Residential during the 1st quarter worth $738,000. Naviter Wealth LLC increased its stake in shares of Equity Residential by 25.7% during the first quarter. Naviter Wealth LLC now owns 22,473 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $1,433,000 after buying an additional 4,601 shares during the period. Finally, Norden Group LLC bought a new stake in shares of Equity Residential in the first quarter valued at about $414,000. Institutional investors own 92.68% of the company’s stock.

Equity Residential Stock Performance

Shares of Equity Residential stock opened at $74.67 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $28.34 billion, a P/E ratio of 31.05, a PEG ratio of 6.05 and a beta of 0.89. Equity Residential has a 52 week low of $52.57 and a 52 week high of $78.83. 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 company has a 50 day moving average price of $74.61 and a 200 day moving average price of $69.60.

Equity Residential (NYSE:EQR) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Monday, July 29th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.47 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.96 by ($0.49). Equity Residential had a return on equity of 8.53% and a net margin of 32.83%. The company had revenue of $734.20 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $735.26 million. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $0.94 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 2.4% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts expect that Equity Residential will post 3.89 EPS for the current year.

Equity Residential Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, October 11th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, September 24th were given a dividend of $0.675 per share. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, September 24th. This represents a $2.70 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.62%. Equity Residential’s dividend payout ratio is currently 112.03%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages have issued reports on EQR. Scotiabank increased their target price on shares of Equity Residential from $77.00 to $81.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a report on Monday, September 16th. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their price objective on shares of Equity Residential from $74.00 to $75.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 31st. Truist Financial upped their target price on Equity Residential from $73.00 to $77.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, August 29th. Wedbush lifted their price target on Equity Residential from $68.00 to $75.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, August 5th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company cut Equity Residential from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and upped their price objective for the stock from $69.00 to $77.00 in a research note on Monday, August 26th. Twelve investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Equity Residential presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $75.97.

Equity Residential 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.