Livforsakringsbolaget Skandia Omsesidigt Raises Holdings in Equity Residential (NYSE:EQR)

Livforsakringsbolaget Skandia Omsesidigt boosted its stake in shares of Equity Residential (NYSE:EQR) by 122.1% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 1,155 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after acquiring an additional 635 shares during the quarter. Livforsakringsbolaget Skandia Omsesidigt’s holdings in Equity Residential were worth $71,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of EQR. Cornercap Investment Counsel Inc. lifted its holdings in Equity Residential by 2.6% in the 4th quarter. Cornercap Investment Counsel Inc. now owns 7,291 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $446,000 after buying an additional 185 shares during the period. First Affirmative Financial Network lifted its holdings in Equity Residential by 3.5% in the 3rd quarter. First Affirmative Financial Network now owns 6,194 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $364,000 after buying an additional 210 shares during the period. United Capital Financial Advisers LLC lifted its holdings in Equity Residential by 0.9% in the 1st quarter. United Capital Financial Advisers LLC now owns 22,740 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $2,045,000 after buying an additional 212 shares during the period. Kinneret Advisory LLC lifted its holdings in Equity Residential by 2.3% in the 1st quarter. Kinneret Advisory LLC now owns 9,989 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $904,000 after buying an additional 223 shares during the period. Finally, Advisory Services Network LLC lifted its holdings in Equity Residential by 17.4% in the 1st quarter. Advisory Services Network LLC now owns 1,529 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $92,000 after buying an additional 227 shares during the period. 92.68% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Equity Residential Stock Up 0.9 %

Shares of NYSE:EQR opened at $61.54 on Friday. Equity Residential has a 12-month low of $52.57 and a 12-month high of $69.45. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $61.51 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $59.65. The company has a current ratio of 0.30, a quick ratio of 0.30 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.66. The stock has a market capitalization of $23.32 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.97, a PEG ratio of 3.54 and a beta of 0.84.

Equity Residential (NYSE:EQR) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, January 30th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.82 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.00 by ($0.18). Equity Residential had a return on equity of 7.43% and a net margin of 29.07%. The business had revenue of $727.50 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $725.07 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $0.94 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.0% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts anticipate that Equity Residential will post 3.86 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Equity Residential Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, April 12th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 25th were paid a $0.675 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, March 22nd. This represents a $2.70 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.39%. This is a boost from Equity Residential’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.66. Equity Residential’s payout ratio is currently 122.73%.

Insider Transactions at Equity Residential

In other news, CAO Ian Kaufman sold 716 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $57.80, for a total value of $41,384.80. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 23,949 shares in the company, valued at $1,384,252.20. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In related news, CAO Ian Kaufman sold 716 shares of Equity Residential stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $57.80, for a total value of $41,384.80. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 23,949 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,384,252.20. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CFO Robert Garechana sold 876 shares of Equity Residential stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $57.80, for a total value of $50,632.80. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 20,933 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,209,927.40. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 3,280 shares of company stock worth $192,335 over the last quarter. 1.69% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts have weighed in on the company. Truist Financial dropped their price objective on Equity Residential from $71.00 to $67.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, April 9th. Raymond James upgraded Equity Residential from an “underperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research report on Monday, March 18th. Mizuho dropped their price target on Equity Residential from $62.00 to $61.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, February 28th. Morgan Stanley lifted their price target on Equity Residential from $58.00 to $64.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Monday, February 26th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group restated a “buy” rating and set a $70.00 price target on shares of Equity Residential in a research report on Thursday, February 22nd. Eleven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $65.32.

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.