Equity Residential (NYSE:EQR) Director Mary Kay Haben Sells 3,241 Shares of Stock

Equity Residential (NYSE:EQR) Director Mary Kay Haben sold 3,241 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, April 26th. The stock was 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 transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink.

Equity Residential Trading Down 1.4 %

Shares of EQR opened at $64.40 on Wednesday. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $62.18 and its 200 day simple moving average is $59.91. The company has a market capitalization of $24.40 billion, a P/E ratio of 26.72, a P/E/G ratio of 3.78 and a beta of 0.84. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.64, a current ratio of 0.23 and a quick ratio of 0.30. Equity Residential has a 1-year low of $52.57 and a 1-year high of $69.45.

Equity Residential (NYSE:EQR) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 23rd. The real estate investment trust reported $0.93 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.91 by $0.02. The firm had revenue of $730.80 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $728.09 million. Equity Residential had a net margin of 31.70% and a return on equity of 8.18%. 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 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts forecast that Equity Residential will post 3.85 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Equity Residential Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, April 12th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 25th were issued a $0.675 dividend. This is a boost from Equity Residential’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.66. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, March 22nd. This represents a $2.70 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.19%. Equity Residential’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 112.03%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages have weighed in on EQR. The Goldman Sachs Group reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $70.00 price objective on shares of Equity Residential in a research note on Thursday, February 22nd. Wedbush reiterated a “neutral” rating and issued a $68.00 price objective on shares of Equity Residential in a research note on Monday. Morgan Stanley lifted their price objective on shares of Equity Residential from $58.00 to $64.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday, February 26th. Truist Financial dropped their price objective on shares of Equity Residential from $71.00 to $67.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, April 9th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft initiated coverage on shares of Equity Residential in a research note on Tuesday, January 30th. They issued a “hold” rating and a $64.00 price objective for the company. Ten investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $67.04.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Equity Residential by 0.7% in the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 57,395,793 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $3,369,707,000 after purchasing an additional 372,181 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new stake in Equity Residential in the fourth quarter valued at $2,143,388,000. APG Asset Management US Inc. boosted its holdings in Equity Residential by 0.6% in the fourth quarter. APG Asset Management US Inc. now owns 11,598,251 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $709,349,000 after acquiring an additional 71,716 shares in the last quarter. First Eagle Investment Management LLC boosted its holdings in Equity Residential by 5.9% in the fourth quarter. First Eagle Investment Management LLC now owns 9,325,268 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $570,333,000 after acquiring an additional 516,941 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Centersquare Investment Management LLC boosted its holdings in Equity Residential by 5.9% in the fourth quarter. Centersquare Investment Management LLC now owns 5,527,431 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $338,058,000 after acquiring an additional 309,796 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 92.68% of the company’s stock.

About Equity Residential

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.