Aew Capital Management L P Has $23.93 Million Stock Holdings in Equity Residential (NYSE:EQR)

Aew Capital Management L P cut its position in shares of Equity Residential (NYSE:EQR) by 6.2% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 391,211 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after selling 25,690 shares during the quarter. Aew Capital Management L P’s holdings in Equity Residential were worth $23,926,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Cornercap Investment Counsel Inc. grew its position in Equity Residential by 2.6% during the fourth quarter. Cornercap Investment Counsel Inc. now owns 7,291 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $446,000 after buying an additional 185 shares in the last quarter. Czech National Bank grew its position in Equity Residential by 0.4% during the fourth quarter. Czech National Bank now owns 60,520 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $3,701,000 after buying an additional 236 shares in the last quarter. Covestor Ltd lifted its stake in Equity Residential by 17.3% during the third quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 1,626 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $95,000 after purchasing an additional 240 shares during the period. Allworth Financial LP lifted its stake 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 worth $30,000 after purchasing an additional 267 shares during the period. Finally, Baldwin Brothers LLC MA lifted its stake in Equity Residential by 34.1% during the fourth quarter. Baldwin Brothers LLC MA now owns 1,145 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $70,000 after purchasing an additional 291 shares during the period. 92.68% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Equity Residential Trading Up 0.4 %

Shares of EQR stock traded up $0.26 on Friday, hitting $65.14. The stock had a trading volume of 2,790,561 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,111,780. Equity Residential has a twelve month low of $52.57 and a twelve month high of $69.45. The firm has a market cap of $24.68 billion, a P/E ratio of 27.03, a PEG ratio of 3.76 and a beta of 0.84. The company has a current ratio of 0.23, a quick ratio of 0.30 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.64. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $61.99 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $59.84.

Equity Residential (NYSE:EQR) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 23rd. The real estate investment trust reported $0.93 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.91 by $0.02. The business had revenue of $730.80 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $728.09 million. Equity Residential had a net margin of 31.70% and a return on equity of 8.18%. The firm’s revenue was up 3.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $0.87 EPS. As a group, analysts forecast that Equity Residential will post 3.85 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Equity Residential Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, April 12th. Investors of record on Monday, March 25th were given a $0.675 dividend. This is a boost from Equity Residential’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.66. This represents a $2.70 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.14%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, March 22nd. Equity Residential’s payout ratio is currently 112.03%.

Insider Activity at Equity Residential

In related news, COO Michael L. Manelis sold 1,639 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction 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 sale, the chief operating officer now directly owns 31,053 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,845,479.79. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. In related news, COO Michael L. Manelis sold 1,639 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction 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 sale, the chief operating officer now directly owns 31,053 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,845,479.79. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CFO Robert Garechana sold 876 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $57.80, for a total transaction of $50,632.80. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 20,933 shares in the company, valued at $1,209,927.40. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 3,280 shares of company stock valued at $192,335. 1.00% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

EQR has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. The Goldman Sachs Group restated a “buy” rating and set a $70.00 price target on shares of Equity Residential in a research note on Thursday, February 22nd. 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 target price for the company. Raymond James upgraded shares of Equity Residential from an “underperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research note on Monday, March 18th. Mizuho lowered their price target on shares of Equity Residential from $62.00 to $61.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, February 28th. Finally, Morgan Stanley raised their price target on shares of Equity Residential from $58.00 to $64.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Monday, February 26th. Ten analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $66.04.

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.