Equity Residential (NYSE:EQR) Short Interest Up 9.7% in September

Equity Residential (NYSE:EQR) saw a significant growth in short interest in September. As of September 30th, there was short interest totalling 5,860,000 shares, a growth of 9.7% from the September 15th total of 5,340,000 shares. Based on an average trading volume of 1,780,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 3.3 days.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Fidelis Capital Partners LLC purchased a new position in Equity Residential during the first quarter valued at $27,000. UMB Bank n.a. increased its holdings in shares of Equity Residential by 69.6% during the third quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 475 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $35,000 after acquiring an additional 195 shares in the last quarter. Massmutual Trust Co. FSB ADV raised its position in shares of Equity Residential by 41.9% in the 2nd quarter. Massmutual Trust Co. FSB ADV now owns 525 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $36,000 after purchasing an additional 155 shares during the last quarter. HHM Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its stake in Equity Residential by 146.6% in the 2nd quarter. HHM Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 550 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $38,000 after purchasing an additional 327 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Richardson Financial Services Inc. purchased a new stake in Equity Residential during the 1st quarter valued at about $41,000. 92.68% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Equity Residential Stock Up 0.2 %

Equity Residential stock traded up $0.18 during trading hours on Thursday, hitting $74.87. 1,988,612 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,876,579. Equity Residential has a one year low of $52.57 and a one year high of $78.83. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $74.12 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $69.08. The company has a current ratio of 0.21, a quick ratio of 0.21 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.64. The company has a market cap of $28.42 billion, a PE ratio of 30.97, a PEG ratio of 6.05 and a beta of 0.89.

Equity Residential (NYSE:EQR) last released its quarterly earnings results on Monday, July 29th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.47 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.96 by ($0.49). The firm had revenue of $734.20 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $735.26 million. Equity Residential had a net margin of 32.83% and a return on equity of 8.53%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 2.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $0.94 earnings per share. On average, research analysts forecast that Equity Residential will post 3.89 EPS for the current year.

Equity Residential Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, October 11th. Investors of record on Tuesday, September 24th were paid a $0.675 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, September 24th. This represents a $2.70 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.61%. Equity Residential’s payout ratio is 112.03%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Wells Fargo & Company cut Equity Residential from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and raised their price objective for the company from $69.00 to $77.00 in a research note on Monday, August 26th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target on Equity Residential from $68.00 to $80.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, September 16th. BNP Paribas assumed coverage on Equity Residential in a research report on Wednesday, September 11th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $83.00 price objective for the company. Royal Bank of Canada raised their target price on shares of Equity Residential from $74.00 to $75.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 31st. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group began coverage on shares of Equity Residential in a research note on Wednesday, September 4th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $81.00 target price on the stock. Twelve analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Equity Residential currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $75.97.

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.