Cetera Investment Advisers Buys 1,647 Shares of Equity Residential (NYSE:EQR)

Cetera Investment Advisers boosted its stake in shares of Equity Residential (NYSE:EQR) by 3.7% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 46,010 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,647 shares during the quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers’ holdings in Equity Residential were worth $3,302,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. AdvisorNet Financial Inc raised its position in Equity Residential by 25.3% in the fourth quarter. AdvisorNet Financial Inc now owns 722 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $52,000 after acquiring an additional 146 shares during the period. Park Avenue Securities LLC raised its position in Equity Residential by 87.2% in the fourth quarter. Park Avenue Securities LLC now owns 8,706 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $625,000 after acquiring an additional 4,056 shares during the period. Avanza Fonder AB bought a new position in Equity Residential in the fourth quarter worth approximately $1,997,000. Merit Financial Group LLC bought a new position in Equity Residential in the fourth quarter worth approximately $351,000. Finally, Ameritas Advisory Services LLC raised its position in Equity Residential by 7.9% in the fourth quarter. Ameritas Advisory Services LLC now owns 10,454 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $750,000 after acquiring an additional 763 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 92.68% of the company’s stock.

Equity Residential Stock Performance

NYSE:EQR opened at $71.77 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.72, a quick ratio of 0.36 and a current ratio of 0.36. The company has a fifty day moving average of $68.87 and a two-hundred day moving average of $70.86. The stock has a market capitalization of $27.27 billion, a PE ratio of 26.39, a P/E/G ratio of 3.99 and a beta of 0.89. Equity Residential has a fifty-two week low of $59.41 and a fifty-two week high of $78.84.

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

Equity Residential Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, April 17th. Investors of record on Monday, March 31st were issued a $0.6925 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, March 31st. This represents a $2.77 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.86%. This is a positive change from Equity Residential’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.68. Equity Residential’s dividend payout ratio is currently 105.73%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts have weighed in on EQR shares. Stifel Nicolaus decreased their price target on shares of Equity Residential from $82.25 to $80.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, April 30th. Barclays increased their price objective on shares of Equity Residential from $79.00 to $83.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, May 9th. Royal Bank of Canada increased their price objective on shares of Equity Residential from $75.00 to $76.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. StockNews.com raised shares of Equity Residential from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, February 8th. Finally, Evercore ISI increased their price objective on shares of Equity Residential from $74.00 to $76.00 and gave the stock an “in-line” rating in a research note on Monday, February 10th. Nine research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Equity Residential has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $79.69.

Equity Residential Company 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.