KBC Group NV Sells 48,607 Shares of Equity Residential $EQR

KBC Group NV decreased its holdings in shares of Equity Residential (NYSE:EQR) by 34.8% during the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 91,257 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after selling 48,607 shares during the period. KBC Group NV’s holdings in Equity Residential were worth $5,398,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of Equity Residential during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $2,201,674,000. State Street Corp raised its stake in Equity Residential by 2.8% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 24,922,935 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $1,630,103,000 after buying an additional 688,854 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC raised 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 worth $644,412,000 after buying an additional 114,604 shares in the last quarter. First Eagle Investment Management LLC lifted its holdings in Equity Residential by 0.5% during the fourth quarter. First Eagle Investment Management LLC now owns 9,242,013 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $582,617,000 after buying an additional 44,127 shares during the period. Finally, Cohen & Steers Inc. lifted its holdings in Equity Residential by 227.7% during the fourth quarter. Cohen & Steers Inc. now owns 7,405,502 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $466,869,000 after buying an additional 5,145,442 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.68% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

EQR has been the topic of several recent research reports. Weiss Ratings cut Equity Residential from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “hold (c)” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 16th. Truist Financial upped their price objective on Equity Residential from $70.00 to $72.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, June 16th. Bank of America raised Equity Residential from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $76.00 price objective on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, May 27th. Nordea Equity Research upgraded Equity Residential to a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 27th. Finally, BNP Paribas Exane boosted their target price on shares of Equity Residential from $68.00 to $70.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, May 18th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eight have given a Buy rating and fourteen have issued a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $71.40.

Equity Residential Stock Performance

Shares of EQR stock opened at $68.41 on Friday. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $67.23 and its 200-day simple moving average is $63.91. The company has a market cap of $25.65 billion, a PE ratio of 29.74, a PEG ratio of 5.44 and a beta of 0.74. The company has a current ratio of 0.18, a quick ratio of 0.18 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.77. Equity Residential has a 12-month low of $57.57 and a 12-month high of $71.50.

Equity Residential (NYSE:EQR) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 28th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.24 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate 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 net margin of 27.97% and a return on equity of 7.98%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 2.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $0.95 EPS. 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 expect that Equity Residential will post 4.08 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Equity Residential Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, July 10th. Shareholders of record on Monday, June 29th were paid a $0.7025 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, June 29th. This represents a $2.81 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.1%. Equity Residential’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 112.40%.

Equity Residential News Summary

Here are the key news stories impacting Equity Residential this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Equity Residential posted Q2 FFO of $1.02 per share, edging past estimates, and management raised its same-store revenue and NOI outlook, signaling better-than-expected operating momentum. Article Title
• Positive Sentiment: Leasing trends improved, with stronger demand in San Francisco and New York helping offset broader real estate concerns and supporting the company’s outlook. Article Title
• Neutral Sentiment: Analysts remained cautious overall, with Jefferies and BTIG maintaining hold ratings, suggesting the stock may already reflect much of the near-term improvement. Article Title
• Neutral Sentiment: The company also reported revenue slightly below Wall Street expectations, which tempered some of the enthusiasm around the earnings beat. Article Title
• Negative Sentiment: Some reports noted that rising expenses and uncertainty tied to the pending AvalonBay merger were weighing on sentiment despite the solid quarterly beat. Article Title

Equity Residential 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.