Chase Investment Counsel Corp Takes Position in Equity Residential (NYSE:EQR)

Chase Investment Counsel Corp purchased a new position in Equity Residential (NYSE:EQR) in the second quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund purchased 4,932 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock, valued at approximately $343,000.

Other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in Equity Residential during the 4th quarter valued at $2,143,388,000. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD grew its stake in shares of Equity Residential by 1.9% during the 1st quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 20,267,675 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $1,279,095,000 after purchasing an additional 381,236 shares during the period. APG Asset Management US Inc. increased its position in shares of Equity Residential by 0.6% during the 4th quarter. APG Asset Management US Inc. now owns 11,598,251 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $709,349,000 after purchasing an additional 71,716 shares during the last quarter. First Eagle Investment Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Equity Residential by 5.9% in the 4th quarter. First Eagle Investment Management LLC now owns 9,325,268 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $570,333,000 after purchasing an additional 516,941 shares during the period. Finally, Principal Financial Group Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Equity Residential by 482.3% in the 2nd quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 7,153,749 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $496,040,000 after purchasing an additional 5,925,177 shares during the period. 92.68% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms have weighed in on EQR. Wells Fargo & Company downgraded shares of Equity Residential from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and increased their price target for the stock from $69.00 to $77.00 in a research report on Monday, August 26th. The Goldman Sachs Group began coverage on Equity Residential in a report on Wednesday. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $81.00 target price on the stock. Piper Sandler upped their price target on Equity Residential from $80.00 to $85.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 31st. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their price objective on Equity Residential from $74.00 to $75.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 31st. Finally, Scotiabank raised their target price on shares of Equity Residential from $73.00 to $77.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Monday, August 26th. Thirteen equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $72.84.

Equity Residential Price Performance

Shares of NYSE EQR traded up $0.42 during mid-day trading on Thursday, hitting $75.90. 301,641 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,918,232. The company has a market capitalization of $28.81 billion, a P/E ratio of 31.48, a PEG ratio of 4.17 and a beta of 0.87. Equity Residential has a 1 year low of $52.57 and a 1 year high of $76.75. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.64, a current ratio of 0.21 and a quick ratio of 0.21. The company’s 50-day moving average is $70.63 and its two-hundred day moving average is $66.30.

Equity Residential (NYSE:EQR) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Monday, July 29th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.47 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.96 by ($0.49). The company had revenue of $734.20 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $735.26 million. Equity Residential had a net margin of 32.83% and a return on equity of 8.53%. Equity Residential’s revenue for the quarter was up 2.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $0.94 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Equity Residential will post 3.89 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Equity Residential Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, July 12th. Shareholders of record on Monday, July 1st were paid a dividend of $0.675 per share. This represents a $2.70 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.56%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, July 1st. Equity Residential’s payout ratio is 112.03%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Equity Residential

In related news, CFO Robert Garechana sold 6,357 shares of Equity Residential stock in a transaction dated Monday, June 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $69.08, for a total transaction of $439,141.56. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 14,576 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,006,910.08. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Company insiders own 1.00% of the company’s stock.

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.