Swiss Life Asset Management Ltd Increases Stake in Equity Residential $EQR

Swiss Life Asset Management Ltd lifted its holdings in Equity Residential (NYSE:EQR) by 44.3% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 38,877 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after purchasing an additional 11,929 shares during the quarter. Swiss Life Asset Management Ltd’s holdings in Equity Residential were worth $2,451,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the business. Rosenberg Matthew Hamilton grew its holdings in shares of Equity Residential by 69.2% in the fourth quarter. Rosenberg Matthew Hamilton now owns 440 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $28,000 after purchasing an additional 180 shares in the last quarter. Summitry LLC grew its holdings in shares of Equity Residential by 6.3% in the third quarter. Summitry LLC now owns 3,193 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $207,000 after purchasing an additional 189 shares in the last quarter. MAI Capital Management grew its holdings in shares of Equity Residential by 5.4% in the third quarter. MAI Capital Management now owns 3,933 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $255,000 after purchasing an additional 202 shares in the last quarter. CI Investments Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Equity Residential by 0.6% in the third quarter. CI Investments Inc. now owns 37,510 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $2,428,000 after purchasing an additional 211 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Empowered Funds LLC grew its holdings in shares of Equity Residential by 3.1% in the first quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 7,489 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $536,000 after purchasing an additional 226 shares in the last quarter. 92.68% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts recently weighed in on EQR shares. Mizuho raised their target price on shares of Equity Residential from $65.00 to $66.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, March 6th. BNP Paribas Exane raised their target price on shares of Equity Residential from $66.00 to $68.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, March 3rd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price on shares of Equity Residential from $71.00 to $72.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, May 5th. The Goldman Sachs Group cut their target price on shares of Equity Residential from $71.00 to $69.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, April 16th. Finally, Morgan Stanley upgraded Equity Residential from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and raised their price target for the stock from $72.00 to $74.00 in a research report on Thursday, March 26th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seven have given a Buy rating and twelve have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $70.01.

Equity Residential Stock Down 1.2%

NYSE:EQR opened at $65.07 on Friday. Equity Residential has a twelve month low of $57.57 and a twelve month high of $71.80. The company has a market cap of $24.38 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.03, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.22 and a beta of 0.76. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $61.79 and a 200-day simple moving average of $61.70. The company has a current ratio of 0.18, a quick ratio of 0.18 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.77.

Equity Residential (NYSE:EQR) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 28th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.24 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.33 by ($0.09). The firm had revenue of $779.85 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $781.79 million. Equity Residential had a net margin of 30.63% and a return on equity of 8.57%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 2.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $0.95 EPS. Equity Residential has set its FY 2026 guidance at 4.020-4.140 EPS and its Q2 2026 guidance at 0.980-1.020 EPS. Analysts anticipate that Equity Residential will post 4.09 EPS for the current year.

Equity Residential Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, April 10th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 30th were paid a dividend of $0.7025 per share. This is an increase from Equity Residential’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.69. This represents a $2.81 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.3%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, March 30th. Equity Residential’s payout ratio is 112.40%.

Equity Residential Profile

Equity Residential (NYSE: EQR) is a publicly traded real estate investment trust that acquires, develops, owns and operates rental apartment properties. Headquartered in Chicago, the company focuses on delivering professionally managed, market-rate apartment homes and related services to renters. Its operations cover a range of property types, including high-rise and mid-rise assets, with amenities and on-site management designed to support resident retention and occupancy.

The company’s core activities include property acquisitions, development and redevelopment, leasing, and day-to-day property management.