Equity Residential (NYSE:EQR) Hits New 52-Week High Following Dividend Announcement

Shares of Equity Residential (NYSE:EQR) reached a new 52-week high during mid-day trading on Monday following a dividend announcement from the company. The stock traded as high as $78.78 and last traded at $78.17, with a volume of 42291 shares trading hands. The stock had previously closed at $78.08.

The newly announced dividend which will be paid on Friday, October 11th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, September 24th will be issued a $0.675 dividend. This represents a $2.70 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.47%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, September 24th. Equity Residential’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 112.03%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Evercore ISI upped their target price on shares of Equity Residential from $75.00 to $76.00 and gave the company an “in-line” rating in a research note on Monday. Mizuho lifted their target price on Equity Residential from $61.00 to $64.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, May 30th. Wells Fargo & Company lowered Equity Residential from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and raised their price target for the stock from $69.00 to $77.00 in a research report on Monday, August 26th. Wedbush boosted their price objective on shares of Equity Residential from $68.00 to $75.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, August 5th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price target on Equity Residential from $68.00 to $80.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday. Twelve equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $75.62.

Equity Residential Trading Down 0.4 %

The company has a market cap of $29.52 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 32.27, a P/E/G ratio of 4.27 and a beta of 0.89. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.64, a quick ratio of 0.21 and a current ratio of 0.21. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $71.97 and a 200 day moving average price of $67.27.

Equity Residential (NYSE:EQR) last issued its earnings results 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). The business had revenue of $734.20 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $735.26 million. Equity Residential had a return on equity of 8.53% and a net margin of 32.83%. The business’s revenue was up 2.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $0.94 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts predict that Equity Residential will post 3.89 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity at Equity Residential

In related news, CFO Robert Garechana sold 6,357 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, June 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $69.08, for a total value of $439,141.56. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 14,576 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,006,910.08. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. 1.00% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of Equity Residential

Large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. BNP Paribas Financial Markets boosted its stake in shares of Equity Residential by 36.6% in the 1st quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 569,829 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $35,962,000 after purchasing an additional 152,736 shares in the last quarter. Royal London Asset Management Ltd. raised its holdings in Equity Residential by 13.7% in 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 buying an additional 20,010 shares during the last quarter. QRG Capital Management Inc. boosted its position in Equity Residential by 200.9% during the 1st quarter. QRG Capital Management Inc. now owns 77,019 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $4,861,000 after buying an additional 51,423 shares during the period. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD lifted its holdings in shares of Equity Residential by 1.9% during the first quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 20,267,675 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $1,279,095,000 after purchasing an additional 381,236 shares during the period. Finally, U.S. Capital Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new position in Equity Residential during the 2nd quarter worth $3,893,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.68% of the company’s stock.

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.