Van ECK Associates Corp Decreases Holdings in Equity Residential $EQR

Van ECK Associates Corp trimmed its holdings in Equity Residential (NYSE:EQR) by 4.1% in the second quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 222,785 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after selling 9,502 shares during the period. Van ECK Associates Corp’s holdings in Equity Residential were worth $15,134,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in EQR. Empowered Funds LLC grew its holdings in shares of Equity Residential by 3.1% during the 1st 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 during the last quarter. Cresset Asset Management LLC lifted its stake in Equity Residential by 13.9% in the second quarter. Cresset Asset Management LLC now owns 4,836 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $330,000 after purchasing an additional 590 shares during the last quarter. Jump Financial LLC boosted its position in Equity Residential by 96.1% during the second quarter. Jump Financial LLC now owns 11,300 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $763,000 after buying an additional 5,537 shares during the period. Federated Hermes Inc. purchased a new stake in Equity Residential during the second quarter valued at about $100,000. Finally, Cerity Partners LLC grew its stake in shares of Equity Residential by 170.7% during the second quarter. Cerity Partners LLC now owns 20,646 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $1,393,000 after buying an additional 13,018 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.68% of the company’s stock.

Equity Residential Stock Up 0.0%

NYSE EQR opened at $63.68 on Tuesday. Equity Residential has a 1 year low of $57.57 and a 1 year high of $71.50. The stock has a market capitalization of $23.88 billion, a PE ratio of 27.69, a PEG ratio of 5.53 and a beta of 0.73. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.77, a current ratio of 0.19 and a quick ratio of 0.19. The business’s 50-day moving average is $66.94 and its 200 day moving average is $64.60.

Equity Residential (NYSE:EQR) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 22nd. The real estate investment trust reported $1.02 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.01 by $0.01. Equity Residential had a return on equity of 8.06% and a net margin of 27.97%.The business had revenue of $785.05 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $787.28 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $0.99 EPS. Equity Residential’s quarterly revenue was up 2.1% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts forecast that Equity Residential will post 4.08 earnings per share for the current year.

Equity Residential Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, July 10th. Investors of record on Monday, June 29th were issued a dividend of $0.7025 per share. 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 dividend payout ratio is currently 122.17%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have recently commented on EQR. Wolfe Research upgraded Equity Residential from a “hold” rating to an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, June 1st. Stifel Nicolaus raised their price target on Equity Residential from $78.25 to $79.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 27th. Bank of America raised Equity Residential from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $76.00 price target on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, May 27th. Cantor Fitzgerald boosted their price objective on Equity Residential from $64.00 to $66.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, May 4th. Finally, Truist Financial increased their price objective on Equity Residential from $70.00 to $72.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, June 16th. One 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. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $71.40.

Equity Residential Company 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.