GAMMA Investing LLC Raises Stock Holdings in Equity Residential (NYSE:EQR)

GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its holdings in Equity Residential (NYSE:EQR) by 44.9% during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 5,518 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after buying an additional 1,709 shares during the quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC’s holdings in Equity Residential were worth $383,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the business. Cornercap Investment Counsel Inc. increased its holdings in Equity Residential by 2.6% during the 4th quarter. Cornercap Investment Counsel Inc. now owns 7,291 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $446,000 after purchasing an additional 185 shares during the period. Mystic Asset Management Inc. boosted its position in shares of Equity Residential by 3.8% in the 1st quarter. Mystic Asset Management Inc. now owns 5,450 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $344,000 after purchasing an additional 200 shares in the last quarter. Chicago Partners Investment Group LLC raised its stake in shares of Equity Residential by 1.5% during the 4th quarter. Chicago Partners Investment Group LLC now owns 13,864 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $815,000 after buying an additional 208 shares during the last quarter. Czech National Bank raised its stake in shares of Equity Residential by 0.3% during the 1st quarter. Czech National Bank now owns 60,730 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $3,833,000 after buying an additional 210 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Tobam increased its stake in shares of Equity Residential by 10.7% in the 1st quarter. Tobam now owns 2,539 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $160,000 after purchasing an additional 245 shares in the last quarter. 92.68% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at Equity Residential

In related news, CFO Robert Garechana sold 6,357 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, June 24th. The shares were 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 owns 14,576 shares in the company, valued at $1,006,910.08. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Insiders own 1.00% of the company’s stock.

Equity Residential Stock Performance

NYSE EQR traded down $0.43 during trading hours on Monday, hitting $69.79. The company had a trading volume of 2,120,659 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,971,293. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.64, a quick ratio of 0.23 and a current ratio of 0.21. Equity Residential has a 1-year low of $52.57 and a 1-year high of $72.32. The company has a market cap of $26.49 billion, a PE ratio of 29.08, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.06 and a beta of 0.87. The business has a 50 day moving average of $67.81 and a 200-day moving average of $64.25.

Equity Residential (NYSE:EQR) last released its quarterly earnings data on Monday, July 29th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.47 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.96 by ($0.49). Equity Residential had a net margin of 32.83% and a return on equity of 8.53%. The company had revenue of $734.20 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $735.26 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $0.94 EPS. The business’s revenue was up 2.4% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Equity Residential will post 3.88 EPS for the current year.

Equity Residential Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, July 12th. Stockholders of record on Monday, July 1st were paid a dividend of $0.675 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, July 1st. This represents a $2.70 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.87%. Equity Residential’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 112.03%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts recently weighed in on the company. Truist Financial lifted their price target on Equity Residential from $67.00 to $73.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, June 24th. Evercore ISI cut Equity Residential from an “outperform” rating to an “in-line” rating and set a $70.00 target price on the stock. in a report on Monday, May 13th. Royal Bank of Canada upped their price objective on Equity Residential from $74.00 to $75.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 31st. Piper Sandler upped their price objective on Equity Residential from $80.00 to $85.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 31st. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on Equity Residential from $66.00 to $69.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, May 31st. Eleven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $70.84.

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.