Louisiana State Employees Retirement System Buys New Shares in Equity Residential (NYSE:EQR)

Louisiana State Employees Retirement System bought a new stake in shares of Equity Residential (NYSE:EQR) during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm bought 20,900 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock, valued at approximately $1,278,000.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Financial Gravity Asset Management Inc. raised its holdings in Equity Residential by 593.9% during the third quarter. Financial Gravity Asset Management Inc. now owns 458 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $25,000 after acquiring an additional 392 shares during the period. Bruce G. Allen Investments LLC bought a new stake in Equity Residential during the fourth quarter valued at about $28,000. Allworth Financial LP raised its holdings in Equity Residential by 120.8% during the fourth quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 488 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $30,000 after acquiring an additional 267 shares during the period. AdvisorNet Financial Inc bought a new stake in Equity Residential during the fourth quarter valued at about $34,000. Finally, Kelly Lawrence W & Associates Inc. CA bought a new stake in Equity Residential during the third quarter valued at about $40,000. 92.68% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Equity Residential Stock Up 1.6 %

Shares of NYSE:EQR opened at $62.54 on Tuesday. Equity Residential has a 1 year low of $52.57 and a 1 year high of $69.45. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $61.58 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $59.71. The firm has a market capitalization of $23.70 billion, a PE ratio of 28.43, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.57 and a beta of 0.84. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.66, a current ratio of 0.30 and a quick ratio of 0.30.

Equity Residential (NYSE:EQR) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, January 30th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.82 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.00 by ($0.18). Equity Residential had a net margin of 29.07% and a return on equity of 7.43%. The business had revenue of $727.50 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $725.07 million. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $0.94 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 4.0% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts predict that Equity Residential will post 3.86 EPS for the current year.

Equity Residential Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, April 12th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 25th were given a dividend of $0.675 per share. This represents a $2.70 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.32%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, March 22nd. This is a positive change from Equity Residential’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.66. Equity Residential’s payout ratio is 122.73%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

EQR has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Mizuho decreased their price target on Equity Residential from $62.00 to $61.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, February 28th. Barclays reduced their target price on Equity Residential from $69.00 to $67.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, February 20th. Morgan Stanley lifted their target price on Equity Residential from $58.00 to $64.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Monday, February 26th. Raymond James raised Equity Residential from an “underperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a report on Monday, March 18th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft assumed coverage on Equity Residential in a report on Tuesday, January 30th. They issued a “hold” rating and a $64.00 target price on the stock. Ten equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $65.75.

Insider Buying and Selling at Equity Residential

In other Equity Residential news, CAO Ian Kaufman sold 716 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $57.80, for a total transaction of $41,384.80. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 23,949 shares in the company, valued at $1,384,252.20. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. In related news, CAO Ian Kaufman sold 716 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $57.80, for a total value of $41,384.80. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 23,949 shares in the company, valued at $1,384,252.20. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, COO Michael L. Manelis sold 1,639 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $59.43, for a total value of $97,405.77. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer now owns 31,053 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,845,479.79. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 3,280 shares of company stock worth $192,335 over the last 90 days. Company 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.