Norges Bank Takes Position in Equity Residential $EQR

Norges Bank purchased a new stake in shares of Equity Residential (NYSE:EQR) during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund purchased 34,925,031 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock, valued at approximately $2,201,674,000. Norges Bank owned approximately 9.18% of Equity Residential at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the business. Eurizon SLJ Capital Ltd purchased a new position in shares of Equity Residential during the fourth quarter valued at $68,000. Eurizon Capital SGR S.p.A. purchased a new position in shares of Equity Residential during the fourth quarter valued at $4,294,000. National Pension Service grew its stake in Equity Residential by 23.7% in the fourth quarter. National Pension Service now owns 748,756 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $47,202,000 after purchasing an additional 143,262 shares in the last quarter. Kingsview Wealth Management LLC grew its stake in Equity Residential by 28.9% in the fourth quarter. Kingsview Wealth Management LLC now owns 4,455 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $281,000 after purchasing an additional 999 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC grew its stake in Equity Residential by 1.1% in the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 10,258,275 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $644,412,000 after purchasing an additional 114,604 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.68% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts have commented on EQR shares. Barclays boosted their target price on Equity Residential from $75.00 to $76.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, April 27th. The Goldman Sachs Group lowered their target price on Equity Residential from $71.00 to $69.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, April 16th. Weiss Ratings restated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Equity Residential in a research note on Tuesday, April 21st. Scotiabank boosted their target price on Equity Residential from $66.00 to $67.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 4th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus boosted their target price on Equity Residential from $78.25 to $79.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nine have issued a Buy rating and twelve have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $69.90.

Equity Residential Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE EQR opened at $65.48 on Friday. Equity Residential has a one year low of $57.57 and a one year high of $70.31. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $62.80 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $62.14. The company has a market capitalization of $24.53 billion, a P/E ratio of 26.19, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.26 and a beta of 0.76. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.77, a current ratio of 0.18 and a quick ratio of 0.18.

Equity Residential (NYSE:EQR) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 28th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.24 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.33 by ($0.09). Equity Residential had a return on equity of 8.57% and a net margin of 30.63%.The company had revenue of $779.85 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $781.79 million. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $0.95 EPS. Equity Residential’s quarterly revenue was up 2.5% on a year-over-year basis. Equity Residential has set its FY 2026 guidance at 4.020-4.140 EPS and its Q2 2026 guidance at 0.980-1.020 EPS. Analysts anticipate that Equity Residential will post 4.09 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Equity Residential Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, April 10th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 30th were given a $0.7025 dividend. This is an increase from Equity Residential’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.69. This represents a $2.81 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.3%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, March 30th. Equity Residential’s payout ratio is presently 112.40%.

Equity Residential Company Profile

Equity Residential (NYSE: EQR) is a publicly traded real estate investment trust that acquires, develops, owns and operates rental apartment properties. Headquartered in Chicago, the company focuses on delivering professionally managed, market-rate apartment homes and related services to renters. Its operations cover a range of property types, including high-rise and mid-rise assets, with amenities and on-site management designed to support resident retention and occupancy.

The company’s core activities include property acquisitions, development and redevelopment, leasing, and day-to-day property management.