Sarasin & Partners LLP Sells 284 Shares of Equity Residential (NYSE:EQR)

Sarasin & Partners LLP reduced its position in Equity Residential (NYSE:EQR) by 0.3% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 96,840 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after selling 284 shares during the quarter. Sarasin & Partners LLP’s holdings in Equity Residential were worth $6,932,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. SRS Capital Advisors Inc. raised its holdings in Equity Residential by 607.8% during the fourth quarter. SRS Capital Advisors Inc. now owns 361 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $26,000 after acquiring an additional 310 shares during the period. Versant Capital Management Inc raised its stake in Equity Residential by 51.6% during the 1st quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 461 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $33,000 after purchasing an additional 157 shares during the period. Steward Partners Investment Advisory LLC lifted its holdings in Equity Residential by 109.5% in the 4th quarter. Steward Partners Investment Advisory LLC now owns 551 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $40,000 after purchasing an additional 288 shares in the last quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC lifted its holdings in Equity Residential by 38.8% in the 4th quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 558 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $40,000 after purchasing an additional 156 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Kapitalo Investimentos Ltda bought a new position in Equity Residential in the 4th quarter worth approximately $51,000. Institutional investors own 92.68% of the company’s stock.

Equity Residential Trading Up 1.2%

Shares of EQR stock opened at $69.32 on Tuesday. The company has a market cap of $26.34 billion, a PE ratio of 25.48, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.99 and a beta of 0.90. Equity Residential has a 1 year low of $59.41 and a 1 year high of $78.84. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $68.48 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $70.40. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.72, a current ratio of 0.36 and a quick ratio of 0.36.

Equity Residential (NYSE:EQR) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, April 29th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.95 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.93 by $0.02. The firm had revenue of $760.81 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $769.43 million. Equity Residential had a return on equity of 9.27% and a net margin of 34.76%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $0.93 EPS. Research analysts predict that Equity Residential will post 3.98 earnings per share for the current year.

Equity Residential Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, April 17th. Investors of record on Monday, March 31st were given a $0.6925 dividend. This is a positive change from Equity Residential’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.68. This represents a $2.77 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.00%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, March 31st. Equity Residential’s dividend payout ratio is 105.73%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their price objective on shares of Equity Residential from $75.00 to $76.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. Evercore ISI lifted their price target on shares of Equity Residential from $74.00 to $76.00 and gave the company an “in-line” rating in a report on Monday, February 10th. Wedbush reiterated a “neutral” rating and issued a $75.00 price target on shares of Equity Residential in a research note on Wednesday, May 28th. Mizuho cut their price objective on Equity Residential from $76.00 to $71.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, May 23rd. Finally, Scotiabank lifted their target price on Equity Residential from $79.00 to $82.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a report on Monday, May 12th. Nine research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Equity Residential has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $79.50.

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.