Ethic Inc. Has $2.84 Million Stake in Equity Residential (NYSE:EQR)

Ethic Inc. increased its stake in shares of Equity Residential (NYSE:EQR) by 51.4% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 39,513 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after acquiring an additional 13,406 shares during the period. Ethic Inc.’s holdings in Equity Residential were worth $2,835,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in EQR. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB acquired a new position in shares of Equity Residential during the 3rd quarter valued at about $29,000. Franklin Resources Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Equity Residential by 4.6% during the 3rd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 182,397 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $13,430,000 after acquiring an additional 8,088 shares during the last quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB increased its holdings in shares of Equity Residential by 3.1% during the 4th quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 32,658 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $2,341,000 after acquiring an additional 979 shares during the last quarter. Czech National Bank increased its holdings in shares of Equity Residential by 6.5% during the 4th quarter. Czech National Bank now owns 74,027 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $5,312,000 after acquiring an additional 4,526 shares during the last quarter. Finally, AdvisorNet Financial Inc grew its holdings in Equity Residential by 25.3% in the 4th quarter. AdvisorNet Financial Inc now owns 722 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $52,000 after buying an additional 146 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.68% of the company’s stock.

Equity Residential Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:EQR opened at $69.93 on Monday. The company has a current ratio of 0.36, a quick ratio of 0.36 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.72. The firm has a market capitalization of $26.57 billion, a PE ratio of 25.71, a PEG ratio of 3.99 and a beta of 0.89. Equity Residential has a 1-year low of $59.41 and a 1-year high of $78.84. The business’s 50 day moving average is $69.00 and its 200-day moving average is $70.95.

Equity Residential (NYSE:EQR) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 29th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.95 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.93 by $0.02. The business had revenue of $760.81 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $769.43 million. Equity Residential had a return on equity of 9.27% and a net margin of 34.76%. Equity Residential’s quarterly revenue was up 4.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $0.93 EPS. Sell-side analysts predict that Equity Residential will post 3.98 earnings per share for the current year.

Equity Residential Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, April 17th. Investors of record on Monday, March 31st were paid a $0.6925 dividend. This is a positive change from Equity Residential’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.68. The ex-dividend date was Monday, March 31st. This represents a $2.77 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.96%. Equity Residential’s payout ratio is currently 105.73%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

EQR has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their target price on Equity Residential from $77.00 to $75.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, January 24th. Barclays raised their target price on Equity Residential from $79.00 to $83.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday. Scotiabank raised their target price on Equity Residential from $78.00 to $79.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a report on Friday, February 14th. Stifel Nicolaus lowered their target price on Equity Residential from $82.25 to $80.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, April 30th. Finally, Truist Financial raised their target price on Equity Residential from $76.00 to $78.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, March 10th. Ten equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $78.94.

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.