Great Lakes Advisors LLC Buys New Shares in Equity Residential $EQR

Great Lakes Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Equity Residential (NYSE:EQR) in the second quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm purchased 28,093 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock, valued at approximately $1,908,000.

Several other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in EQR. Fulcrum Asset Management LLP bought a new stake in Equity Residential in the 3rd quarter valued at about $27,000. Zions Bancorporation National Association UT grew its position in Equity Residential by 375.2% in the 4th quarter. Zions Bancorporation National Association UT now owns 480 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $30,000 after purchasing an additional 379 shares during the period. DV Equities LLC bought a new stake in Equity Residential during the 4th quarter valued at $30,000. Harvest Fund Management Co. Ltd bought a new stake in Equity Residential during the 3rd quarter valued at $31,000. Finally, Leonteq Securities AG raised its holdings in Equity Residential by 48.8% during the first quarter. Leonteq Securities AG now owns 549 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $32,000 after buying an additional 180 shares during the last quarter. 92.68% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Equity Residential Trading Up 0.0%

Shares of Equity Residential stock opened at $63.68 on Friday. Equity Residential has a 1 year low of $57.57 and a 1 year high of $71.50. The firm has a market cap 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 company has a 50 day simple moving average of $67.09 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $64.57.

Equity Residential (NYSE:EQR) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 22nd. The real estate investment trust reported $1.02 earnings per share 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 for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $787.28 million. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $0.99 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 2.1% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts expect that Equity Residential will post 4.08 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Equity Residential Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, July 10th. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 29th were given a dividend of $0.7025 per share. This represents a $2.81 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.4%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, June 29th. Equity Residential’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 122.17%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts have recently commented on EQR shares. Nordea Equity Research raised Equity Residential to a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 27th. Piper Sandler increased their price target on Equity Residential from $72.00 to $75.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 21st. Jefferies Financial Group upgraded shares of Equity Residential to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 22nd. UBS Group raised their price target on shares of Equity Residential from $71.00 to $73.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 14th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets raised their target price on Equity Residential from $68.00 to $75.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research report on Monday, June 8th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eight have assigned a Buy rating and fourteen have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $71.40.

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.