AQR Capital Management LLC Has $4.20 Million Stock Holdings in Equity Residential (NYSE:EQR)

AQR Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Equity Residential (NYSE:EQR) by 101.0% in the second quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 60,857 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after acquiring an additional 30,587 shares during the quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC’s holdings in Equity Residential were worth $4,195,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in EQR. Point72 Asia Singapore Pte. Ltd. bought a new position in Equity Residential during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $1,236,000. Cubist Systematic Strategies LLC bought a new stake in shares of Equity Residential in the 2nd quarter valued at $803,000. BRITISH COLUMBIA INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT Corp increased its position in shares of Equity Residential by 51.7% during the second quarter. BRITISH COLUMBIA INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT Corp now owns 65,344 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $4,531,000 after buying an additional 22,275 shares during the period. Land & Buildings Investment Management LLC bought a new position in Equity Residential during the second quarter worth $18,328,000. Finally, Bank of Montreal Can lifted its holdings in Equity Residential by 1.1% in the second quarter. Bank of Montreal Can now owns 418,570 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $29,040,000 after buying an additional 4,699 shares during the period. 92.68% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Equity Residential Trading Up 0.3 %

NYSE:EQR opened at $73.53 on Friday. Equity Residential has a one year low of $52.57 and a one year high of $78.83. The company has a market cap of $27.91 billion, a PE ratio of 30.51, a PEG ratio of 5.60 and a beta of 0.89. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.64, a current ratio of 0.21 and a quick ratio of 0.21. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $73.64 and a 200-day moving average of $68.48.

Equity Residential (NYSE:EQR) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Monday, July 29th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.47 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.96 by ($0.49). Equity Residential had a return on equity of 8.53% and a net margin of 32.83%. The company had revenue of $734.20 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $735.26 million. During the same period last year, the company earned $0.94 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 2.4% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Equity Residential will post 3.89 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Equity Residential Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, October 11th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, September 24th will be paid a dividend of $0.675 per share. This represents a $2.70 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.67%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, September 24th. Equity Residential’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 112.03%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms have recently weighed in on EQR. The Goldman Sachs Group started coverage on Equity Residential in a research report on Wednesday, September 4th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $81.00 price objective for the company. BNP Paribas started coverage on Equity Residential in a report on Wednesday, September 11th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $83.00 target price for the company. Scotiabank increased their price target on Equity Residential from $77.00 to $81.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a report on Monday, September 16th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upgraded shares of Equity Residential from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their price objective for the company from $62.00 to $83.00 in a research note on Tuesday, September 10th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company lowered shares of Equity Residential from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and increased their target price for the stock from $69.00 to $77.00 in a research note on Monday, August 26th. Twelve investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $75.97.

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.