Jefferies Financial Group Inc. Buys 36,936 Shares of Equity Residential $EQR

Jefferies Financial Group Inc. increased its stake in Equity Residential (NYSE:EQR) by 369.4% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 46,936 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after purchasing an additional 36,936 shares during the period. Jefferies Financial Group Inc.’s holdings in Equity Residential were worth $3,188,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Equity Residential in the 4th quarter valued at $2,201,674,000. Cohen & Steers Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Equity Residential by 227.7% during the fourth quarter. Cohen & Steers Inc. now owns 7,405,502 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $466,869,000 after acquiring an additional 5,145,442 shares during the period. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC boosted its holdings in Equity Residential by 876.0% in the third quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC now owns 4,500,885 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $291,342,000 after acquiring an additional 4,039,752 shares during the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP boosted its holdings in Equity Residential by 797.2% in the third quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 2,085,406 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $134,988,000 after acquiring an additional 1,852,970 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Alyeska Investment Group L.P. increased its position in Equity Residential by 353.5% in the third quarter. Alyeska Investment Group L.P. now owns 2,002,892 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $129,647,000 after purchasing an additional 1,561,241 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.68% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

EQR has been the topic of a number of research reports. BNP Paribas Exane upped their target price on shares of Equity Residential from $68.00 to $70.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, May 18th. Scotiabank boosted their price target on shares of Equity Residential from $67.00 to $70.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 9th. UBS Group increased their price objective on shares of Equity Residential from $71.00 to $73.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, May 14th. Truist Financial lifted their target price on shares of Equity Residential from $70.00 to $72.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, June 16th. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada cut shares of Equity Residential from an “outperform” rating to a “sector perform” rating and upped their target price for the company from $69.00 to $70.00 in a research report on Monday, June 8th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eight have assigned a Buy rating and fourteen have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $71.40.

Equity Residential Stock Performance

Shares of EQR opened at $63.68 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $23.88 billion, a P/E ratio of 27.69, a PEG ratio of 5.53 and a beta of 0.73. Equity Residential has a twelve month low of $57.57 and a twelve month high of $71.50. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.77, a quick ratio of 0.19 and a current ratio of 0.19. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $66.96 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $64.61.

Equity Residential (NYSE:EQR) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 22nd. The real estate investment trust reported $1.02 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.01 by $0.01. The business had revenue of $785.05 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $787.28 million. Equity Residential had a net margin of 27.97% and a return on equity of 8.06%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 2.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the business posted $0.99 earnings per share. On average, analysts forecast that Equity Residential will post 4.08 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Equity Residential Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, July 10th. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 29th were issued a $0.7025 dividend. This represents a $2.81 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.4%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, June 29th. Equity Residential’s payout ratio is 122.17%.

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.