Azzad Asset Management Inc. ADV Increases Stock Position in Equity Residential (NYSE:EQR)

Azzad Asset Management Inc. ADV raised its holdings in shares of Equity Residential (NYSE:EQR) by 3.1% during the 1st quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 35,033 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after acquiring an additional 1,039 shares during the quarter. Azzad Asset Management Inc. ADV’s holdings in Equity Residential were worth $2,508,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of EQR. Keybank National Association OH lifted its holdings in shares of Equity Residential by 2.0% during the fourth quarter. Keybank National Association OH now owns 7,001 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $502,000 after purchasing an additional 139 shares in the last quarter. Transamerica Financial Advisors Inc. lifted its stake in Equity Residential by 4.1% during the 4th quarter. Transamerica Financial Advisors Inc. now owns 3,827 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $275,000 after acquiring an additional 151 shares during the period. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC boosted its holdings 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. Versant Capital Management Inc grew its stake in shares of Equity Residential by 51.6% in the first quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 461 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $33,000 after acquiring an additional 157 shares during the period. Finally, MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB raised its holdings in shares of Equity Residential by 27.6% during the first quarter. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB now owns 740 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $53,000 after purchasing an additional 160 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 92.68% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts recently issued reports on the stock. Wedbush restated a “neutral” rating and issued a $75.00 target price on shares of Equity Residential in a report on Wednesday, May 28th. Scotiabank dropped their price target on Equity Residential from $82.00 to $78.00 and set a “sector perform” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday. Mizuho reduced their price objective on Equity Residential from $76.00 to $71.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, May 23rd. Barclays increased their target price on Equity Residential from $79.00 to $83.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, May 9th. Finally, Truist Financial boosted their price target on Equity Residential from $76.00 to $78.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, March 10th. Nine research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Equity Residential currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $79.25.

Equity Residential Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:EQR opened at $68.77 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $26.13 billion, a P/E ratio of 25.28, a P/E/G ratio of 3.99 and a beta of 0.90. Equity Residential has a 1-year low of $59.41 and a 1-year high of $78.84. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $68.91 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $70.24. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.72, a current ratio of 0.36 and a quick ratio of 0.36.

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

Equity Residential Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, July 11th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, June 24th will be paid a $0.6925 dividend. This represents a $2.77 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.03%. Equity Residential’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 105.73%.

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.