Park Avenue Securities LLC Buys 1,566 Shares of Equity Residential (NYSE:EQR)

Park Avenue Securities LLC raised its position in shares of Equity Residential (NYSE:EQR) by 34.5% in the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 6,106 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,566 shares during the quarter. Park Avenue Securities LLC’s holdings in Equity Residential were worth $385,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Van ECK Associates Corp raised its stake in Equity Residential by 14.5% during the fourth quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 146,587 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $8,965,000 after buying an additional 18,556 shares during the last quarter. Pallas Capital Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Equity Residential in the 4th quarter valued at about $1,110,000. Royal London Asset Management Ltd. boosted its position in shares of Equity Residential by 13.7% during the 4th quarter. Royal London Asset Management Ltd. now owns 165,650 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $10,131,000 after purchasing an additional 20,010 shares in the last quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. grew its stake in Equity Residential by 5.2% during the fourth quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 551,960 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $33,482,000 after purchasing an additional 27,171 shares during the period. Finally, Wellington Management Group LLP increased its holdings in Equity Residential by 61.9% in the third quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 64,809 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $3,805,000 after purchasing an additional 24,787 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 92.68% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages have recently commented on EQR. Scotiabank raised their price objective on shares of Equity Residential from $65.00 to $72.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, May 14th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on shares of Equity Residential from $66.00 to $69.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, May 31st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price on Equity Residential from $66.00 to $68.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, June 17th. Raymond James raised Equity Residential from an “underperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research note on Monday, March 18th. Finally, Morgan Stanley boosted their price objective on Equity Residential from $68.00 to $70.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Tuesday, May 14th. Eleven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $69.09.

Equity Residential Stock Performance

EQR stock opened at $69.34 on Friday. The business has a 50 day moving average of $66.15 and a 200-day moving average of $62.87. The firm has a market cap of $26.32 billion, a PE ratio of 28.77, a P/E/G ratio of 3.92 and a beta of 0.85. Equity Residential has a 12-month low of $52.57 and a 12-month high of $69.65. The company has a quick ratio of 0.23, a current ratio of 0.23 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.64.

Equity Residential (NYSE:EQR) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, April 23rd. The real estate investment trust reported $0.93 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.91 by $0.02. The firm had revenue of $730.80 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $728.09 million. Equity Residential had a return on equity of 8.18% and a net margin of 31.70%. The business’s revenue was up 3.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm posted $0.87 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Equity Residential will post 3.88 earnings per share for the current year.

Equity Residential Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, July 12th. Stockholders of record on Monday, July 1st will be given a dividend of $0.675 per share. This represents a $2.70 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.89%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, July 1st. Equity Residential’s dividend payout ratio is currently 112.03%.

Insider Transactions at Equity Residential

In related news, EVP Alexander Brackenridge sold 4,027 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, April 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $65.01, for a total value of $261,795.27. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 69,901 shares in the company, valued at $4,544,264.01. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. In other Equity Residential news, Director Mary Kay Haben sold 3,241 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, April 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $65.48, for a total transaction of $212,220.68. Following the sale, the director now owns 9,720 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $636,465.60. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, EVP Alexander Brackenridge sold 4,027 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, April 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $65.01, for a total value of $261,795.27. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 69,901 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,544,264.01. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 13,625 shares of company stock worth $913,158 in the last quarter. Insiders own 1.00% of the company’s stock.

Equity Residential 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.