Alberta Investment Management Corp Lowers Stock Holdings in Equity Residential (NYSE:EQR)

Alberta Investment Management Corp decreased its position in shares of Equity Residential (NYSE:EQR) by 33.5% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 68,860 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after selling 34,700 shares during the quarter. Alberta Investment Management Corp’s holdings in Equity Residential were worth $4,929,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. US Bancorp DE lifted its stake in shares of Equity Residential by 2.5% during the 1st quarter. US Bancorp DE now owns 32,221 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $2,306,000 after buying an additional 788 shares in the last quarter. Modera Wealth Management LLC increased its holdings in Equity Residential by 7.2% in the 1st quarter. Modera Wealth Management LLC now owns 3,548 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $254,000 after acquiring an additional 237 shares during the last quarter. Mesirow Financial Investment Management Inc. increased its holdings in Equity Residential by 120.4% in the 1st quarter. Mesirow Financial Investment Management Inc. now owns 14,582 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $1,044,000 after acquiring an additional 7,967 shares during the last quarter. Arkadios Wealth Advisors increased its holdings in Equity Residential by 14.6% in the 1st quarter. Arkadios Wealth Advisors now owns 9,172 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $657,000 after acquiring an additional 1,169 shares during the last quarter. Finally, XTX Topco Ltd bought a new stake in Equity Residential in the 1st quarter valued at $1,924,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.68% of the company’s stock.

Equity Residential Price Performance

EQR stock opened at $62.75 on Friday. Equity Residential has a 12 month low of $59.41 and a 12 month high of $78.83. The company has a current ratio of 0.20, a quick ratio of 0.20 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.70. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $67.70 and a 200 day moving average price of $69.11. The stock has a market cap of $23.84 billion, a PE ratio of 23.95, a P/E/G ratio of 3.27 and a beta of 0.88.

Equity Residential (NYSE:EQR) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 29th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.95 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.93 by $0.02. Equity Residential had a net margin of 33.11% and a return on equity of 8.93%. The firm had revenue of $760.81 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $769.43 million. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $0.93 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.1% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts anticipate that Equity Residential will post 3.98 earnings per share for the current year.

Equity Residential Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, July 11th. Investors of record on Tuesday, June 24th were paid a dividend of $0.6925 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, June 24th. This represents a $2.77 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.4%. Equity Residential’s payout ratio is currently 105.73%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts have issued reports on the stock. Barclays lifted their price target on shares of Equity Residential from $79.00 to $83.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, May 9th. Royal Bank Of Canada lifted their price target on shares of Equity Residential from $75.00 to $76.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, May 1st. Evercore ISI upgraded shares of Equity Residential from an “in-line” rating to an “outperform” rating and lifted their price target for the company from $74.00 to $75.00 in a report on Monday, July 7th. UBS Group reduced their price target on shares of Equity Residential from $84.00 to $76.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, July 15th. Finally, Wedbush reiterated a “neutral” rating and issued a $75.00 price target on shares of Equity Residential in a report on Wednesday, May 28th. Eight analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Equity Residential has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $78.40.

Equity Residential 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.