Vestcor Inc Buys 106,863 Shares of Equity Residential $EQR

Vestcor Inc increased its stake in shares of Equity Residential (NYSE:EQR) by 1,432.1% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 114,325 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after buying an additional 106,863 shares during the quarter. Vestcor Inc’s holdings in Equity Residential were worth $7,207,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the business. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its position in Equity Residential by 2.3% in the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 57,597,658 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $3,728,296,000 after purchasing an additional 1,281,354 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new position in Equity Residential in the fourth quarter worth $2,201,674,000. State Street Corp boosted its position in Equity Residential by 2.8% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 24,922,935 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $1,630,103,000 after purchasing an additional 688,854 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its position in Equity Residential by 1.1% in the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 10,258,275 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $644,412,000 after purchasing an additional 114,604 shares during the last quarter. Finally, First Eagle Investment Management LLC boosted its position in Equity Residential by 0.5% in the fourth quarter. First Eagle Investment Management LLC now owns 9,242,013 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $582,617,000 after purchasing an additional 44,127 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.68% of the company’s stock.

Equity Residential Stock Up 0.5%

Shares of NYSE EQR opened at $68.21 on Friday. Equity Residential has a one year low of $57.57 and a one year high of $70.21. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.77, a current ratio of 0.18 and a quick ratio of 0.18. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $63.63 and its 200-day moving average price is $62.39. The stock has a market capitalization of $25.56 billion, a PE ratio of 27.29, a P/E/G ratio of 5.39 and a beta of 0.75.

Equity Residential (NYSE:EQR) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 28th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.24 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.33 by ($0.09). Equity Residential had a net margin of 30.63% and a return on equity of 8.57%. The firm had revenue of $779.85 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $781.79 million. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $0.95 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 2.5% on a year-over-year basis. 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. On average, equities research 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 given a dividend of $0.7025 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, March 30th. This represents a $2.81 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.1%. This is a boost from Equity Residential’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.69. Equity Residential’s payout ratio is currently 112.40%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts have weighed in on the company. Weiss Ratings reissued a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Equity Residential in a research report on Tuesday, April 21st. Morgan Stanley raised Equity Residential from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and boosted their price objective for the stock from $72.00 to $74.00 in a research report on Thursday, March 26th. Royal Bank Of Canada boosted their price objective on Equity Residential from $67.00 to $69.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 30th. UBS Group boosted their price objective on Equity Residential from $71.00 to $73.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 14th. Finally, BNP Paribas Exane boosted their price objective on Equity Residential from $68.00 to $70.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, May 18th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, ten have given a Buy rating and twelve have given a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Equity Residential presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $69.90.

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.