Forsta AP Fonden Grows Position in Equity Residential $EQR

Forsta AP Fonden increased its position in shares of Equity Residential (NYSE:EQR) by 31.1% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 192,500 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after buying an additional 45,700 shares during the quarter. Forsta AP Fonden’s holdings in Equity Residential were worth $12,135,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in EQR. Empowered Funds LLC increased its stake in Equity Residential by 3.1% in the first quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 7,489 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $536,000 after purchasing an additional 226 shares during the last quarter. Cresset Asset Management LLC increased its stake in Equity Residential by 13.9% in the second quarter. Cresset Asset Management LLC now owns 4,836 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $330,000 after purchasing an additional 590 shares during the last quarter. Jump Financial LLC increased its stake in Equity Residential by 96.1% in the second quarter. Jump Financial LLC now owns 11,300 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $763,000 after purchasing an additional 5,537 shares during the last quarter. Federated Hermes Inc. purchased a new position in Equity Residential in the second quarter valued at approximately $100,000. Finally, Cerity Partners LLC increased its stake in Equity Residential by 170.7% in the second quarter. Cerity Partners LLC now owns 20,646 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $1,393,000 after purchasing an additional 13,018 shares during the last quarter. 92.68% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Equity Residential Stock Performance

Shares of EQR opened at $65.48 on Monday. The company has a current ratio of 0.18, a quick ratio of 0.18 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.77. The firm has a market cap of $24.53 billion, a PE ratio of 26.19, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.19 and a beta of 0.75. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $62.80 and its 200-day simple moving average is $62.16. Equity Residential has a 12-month low of $57.57 and a 12-month high of $70.31.

Equity Residential (NYSE:EQR) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, April 28th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.24 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.33 by ($0.09). The business had revenue of $779.85 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $781.79 million. Equity Residential had a return on equity of 8.57% and a net margin of 30.63%.The business’s revenue was up 2.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $0.95 earnings per share. 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. As a group, equities analysts predict that Equity Residential will post 4.09 EPS for the current year.

Equity Residential Increases Dividend

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

Analysts Set New Price Targets

EQR has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Morgan Stanley upgraded shares of Equity Residential from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and increased their price target for the company from $72.00 to $74.00 in a research note on Thursday, March 26th. Bank of America upgraded shares of Equity Residential from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $76.00 price target on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, May 27th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price target on shares of Equity Residential from $71.00 to $72.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, May 5th. UBS Group raised their target price on shares of Equity Residential from $71.00 to $73.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 14th. Finally, Weiss Ratings restated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Equity Residential in a research report on Tuesday, April 21st. One 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. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $69.90.

About Equity Residential

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.