Sienna Gestion Reduces Position in Equity Residential (NYSE:EQR)

Sienna Gestion cut its position in Equity Residential (NYSE:EQR) by 6.1% during the first quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 120,895 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after selling 7,889 shares during the quarter. Sienna Gestion’s holdings in Equity Residential were worth $8,412,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. grew its position in Equity Residential by 19.4% during the 4th quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 203,612 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $14,611,000 after purchasing an additional 33,057 shares during the last quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new stake in Equity Residential in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $13,921,000. Townsquare Capital LLC grew its holdings in Equity Residential by 9.1% in the fourth quarter. Townsquare Capital LLC now owns 4,971 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $357,000 after purchasing an additional 415 shares during the period. Mariner LLC grew its holdings in Equity Residential by 5.7% in the fourth quarter. Mariner LLC now owns 25,231 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $1,811,000 after purchasing an additional 1,367 shares during the period. Finally, NewEdge Advisors LLC lifted its position in Equity Residential by 3.0% during the fourth quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC now owns 8,584 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $616,000 after buying an additional 249 shares in the last quarter. 92.68% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Equity Residential Stock Up 2.1%

EQR stock opened at $64.00 on Thursday. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $66.75 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $68.77. The firm has a market cap of $24.44 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.15, a PEG ratio of 3.18 and a beta of 0.92. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.75, a current ratio of 0.17 and a quick ratio of 0.17. Equity Residential has a 1-year low of $59.41 and a 1-year high of $78.83.

Equity Residential (NYSE:EQR) last released its quarterly earnings results on Monday, August 4th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.99 EPS for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of $0.99. The business had revenue of $768.83 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $770.60 million. Equity Residential had a net margin of 33.22% and a return on equity of 9.05%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 4.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $0.97 earnings per share. Research analysts predict that Equity Residential will post 3.98 EPS for the current year.

Equity Residential Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, July 11th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, June 24th were issued a $0.6925 dividend. This represents a $2.77 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.3%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, June 24th. Equity Residential’s dividend payout ratio is presently 104.53%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts have weighed in on the stock. Scotiabank reduced their price target on shares of Equity Residential from $82.00 to $78.00 and set a “sector perform” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, June 13th. UBS Group reduced their target price on shares of Equity Residential from $84.00 to $76.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, July 15th. Evercore ISI reduced their target price on shares of Equity Residential from $72.00 to $71.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday. Stifel Nicolaus set a $80.50 target price on shares of Equity Residential and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 5th. Finally, Barclays reduced their target price on shares of Equity Residential from $83.00 to $81.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Equity Residential has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $77.84.

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.