Skandinaviska Enskilda Banken AB publ Trims Stock Position in Equity Residential (NYSE:EQR)

Skandinaviska Enskilda Banken AB publ cut its stake in shares of Equity Residential (NYSE:EQR) by 0.5% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 141,603 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after selling 671 shares during the quarter. Skandinaviska Enskilda Banken AB publ’s holdings in Equity Residential were worth $10,136,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of EQR. Northern Trust Corp lifted its position in Equity Residential by 53.1% during the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 6,476,004 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $464,718,000 after purchasing an additional 2,246,555 shares during the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. raised its stake in shares of Equity Residential by 12.0% during the fourth quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 6,522,442 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $468,050,000 after acquiring an additional 696,343 shares in the last quarter. Adelante Capital Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Equity Residential by 172.1% during the fourth quarter. Adelante Capital Management LLC now owns 1,077,337 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $77,310,000 after acquiring an additional 681,356 shares in the last quarter. Lasalle Investment Management Securities LLC raised its stake in shares of Equity Residential by 79.1% during the fourth quarter. Lasalle Investment Management Securities LLC now owns 1,161,137 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $83,323,000 after acquiring an additional 512,723 shares in the last quarter. Finally, GAMMA Investing LLC raised its stake in shares of Equity Residential by 7,177.2% during the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 506,930 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $36,286,000 after acquiring an additional 499,964 shares in the last quarter. 92.68% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Equity Residential Trading Down 0.4%

Equity Residential stock opened at $67.38 on Friday. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $68.14 and a 200 day moving average of $69.23. The firm has a market capitalization of $25.60 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.72, a P/E/G ratio of 3.48 and a beta of 0.88. 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.

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

Equity Residential Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, July 11th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, June 24th were paid a $0.6925 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, June 24th. This represents a $2.77 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.11%. Equity Residential’s payout ratio is 105.73%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts recently commented on EQR shares. Wedbush reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and issued a $75.00 target price on shares of Equity Residential in a research note on Wednesday, May 28th. Evercore ISI upgraded shares of Equity Residential from an “in-line” rating to an “outperform” rating and boosted their target price for the company from $74.00 to $75.00 in a report on Monday, July 7th. Mizuho dropped their target price on shares of Equity Residential from $76.00 to $71.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, May 23rd. Stifel Nicolaus dropped their target price on shares of Equity Residential from $82.25 to $80.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, April 30th. Finally, Scotiabank dropped 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 note on Friday, June 13th. Eight equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $78.81.

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.