QRG Capital Management Inc. Has $16.23 Million Position in Equity Residential (NYSE:EQR)

QRG Capital Management Inc. lifted its stake in Equity Residential (NYSE:EQR) by 32.3% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 226,760 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after purchasing an additional 55,394 shares during the period. QRG Capital Management Inc. owned 0.06% of Equity Residential worth $16,231,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. SRS Capital Advisors Inc. raised its position in shares of Equity Residential by 607.8% during the 4th quarter. SRS Capital Advisors Inc. now owns 361 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $26,000 after acquiring an additional 310 shares during the last quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc raised its position in shares of Equity Residential by 51.6% during the 1st quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 461 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $33,000 after acquiring an additional 157 shares during the last quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC raised its position in shares of Equity Residential by 38.8% during the 4th quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 558 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $40,000 after acquiring an additional 156 shares during the last quarter. Steward Partners Investment Advisory LLC raised its position in shares of Equity Residential by 109.5% during the 4th quarter. Steward Partners Investment Advisory LLC now owns 551 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $40,000 after acquiring an additional 288 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Kapitalo Investimentos Ltda bought a new stake in shares of Equity Residential during the 4th quarter valued at $51,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.68% of the company’s stock.

Equity Residential Price Performance

Shares of NYSE EQR opened at $69.08 on Tuesday. The firm has a market cap of $26.25 billion, a PE ratio of 25.40, a PEG ratio of 3.99 and a beta of 0.90. The company has a current ratio of 0.36, a quick ratio of 0.36 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.72. Equity Residential has a 1-year low of $59.41 and a 1-year high of $78.84. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $69.06 and a 200 day moving average price of $70.13.

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

Equity Residential Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, July 11th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, June 24th will be given a dividend of $0.6925 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, June 24th. This represents a $2.77 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.01%. Equity Residential’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 105.73%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages have commented on EQR. Stifel Nicolaus dropped their target price on shares of Equity Residential from $82.25 to $80.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, April 30th. Wedbush reiterated a “neutral” rating and set a $75.00 target price on shares of Equity Residential in a research report on Wednesday, May 28th. Scotiabank dropped their target price on shares of Equity Residential from $82.00 to $78.00 and set a “sector perform” rating for the company in a research report on Friday. Mizuho dropped their target price on shares of Equity Residential from $76.00 to $71.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, May 23rd. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada boosted their price target on shares of Equity Residential from $75.00 to $76.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, May 1st. Nine investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $79.25.

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.