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

Equity Residential (NYSE:EQR) Director Mary Kay Haben sold 3,241 shares of Equity Residential stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, April 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $65.48, for a total value of $212,220.68. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 9,720 shares in the company, valued at approximately $636,465.60. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink.

Equity Residential Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:EQR traded down $0.90 on Tuesday, reaching $64.40. 1,986,628 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,107,598. Equity Residential has a fifty-two week low of $52.57 and a fifty-two week high of $69.45. The company’s 50 day moving average is $62.10 and its 200-day moving average is $59.87. The stock has a market capitalization of $24.40 billion, a PE ratio of 27.10, 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 (NYSE:EQR) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 23rd. The real estate investment trust reported $0.93 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.91 by $0.02. Equity Residential had a return on equity of 8.18% and a net margin of 31.70%. The company had revenue of $730.80 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $728.09 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $0.87 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 3.6% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts anticipate 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. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 25th were paid a dividend of $0.675 per share. This is an increase from Equity Residential’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.66. This represents a $2.70 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.19%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, March 22nd. Equity Residential’s payout ratio is 112.03%.

Institutional Trading of Equity Residential

Several large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Cornercap Investment Counsel Inc. raised its stake 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 valued at $446,000 after purchasing an additional 185 shares during the period. Chicago Partners Investment Group LLC increased its stake in shares of Equity Residential by 1.5% in the fourth quarter. Chicago Partners Investment Group LLC now owns 13,864 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $815,000 after acquiring an additional 208 shares during the last quarter. Czech National Bank increased its stake in shares of Equity Residential by 0.3% in the first quarter. Czech National Bank now owns 60,730 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $3,833,000 after acquiring an additional 210 shares during the last quarter. Covestor Ltd increased its stake in shares of Equity Residential by 17.3% in the third quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 1,626 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $95,000 after acquiring an additional 240 shares during the last quarter. Finally, US Bancorp DE increased its stake in shares of Equity Residential by 0.4% in the fourth quarter. US Bancorp DE now owns 67,535 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $4,130,000 after acquiring an additional 251 shares during the last quarter. 92.68% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Barclays cut their price target 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. Evercore ISI lifted their price target on Equity Residential from $67.00 to $70.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, April 25th. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their price target on Equity Residential from $65.00 to $66.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, February 1st. Wedbush reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and set a $68.00 price target on shares of Equity Residential in a report on Monday. Finally, Raymond James raised Equity Residential from an “underperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a report on Monday, March 18th. Ten analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $67.04.

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.