Daiwa Securities Group Inc. Lowers Holdings in Equity Residential (NYSE:EQR)

Daiwa Securities Group Inc. reduced its position in shares of Equity Residential (NYSE:EQR) by 4.2% in the second quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 235,489 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after selling 10,323 shares during the period. Daiwa Securities Group Inc.’s holdings in Equity Residential were worth $16,329,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Fidelis Capital Partners LLC bought a new position in shares of Equity Residential in the 1st quarter worth $27,000. Voisard Asset Management Group Inc. purchased a new position in Equity Residential in the fourth quarter worth $33,000. Massmutual Trust Co. FSB ADV increased its stake in Equity Residential by 41.9% in the second quarter. Massmutual Trust Co. FSB ADV now owns 525 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $36,000 after acquiring an additional 155 shares during the last quarter. Richardson Financial Services Inc. purchased a new stake in Equity Residential during the first quarter valued at about $41,000. Finally, Principal Securities Inc. bought a new stake in Equity Residential during the fourth quarter worth about $49,000. Institutional investors own 92.68% of the company’s stock.

Equity Residential Price Performance

Shares of Equity Residential stock opened at $76.86 on Wednesday. The business has a 50 day moving average of $71.19 and a 200 day moving average of $66.76. Equity Residential has a 52 week low of $52.57 and a 52 week high of $76.94. The company has a market cap of $29.14 billion, a PE ratio of 31.89, a P/E/G ratio of 4.14 and a beta of 0.89. The company has a quick ratio of 0.21, a current ratio of 0.21 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.64.

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

Equity Residential Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, July 12th. Shareholders of record on Monday, July 1st were issued a dividend of $0.675 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, July 1st. This represents a $2.70 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.51%. Equity Residential’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 112.03%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

EQR has been the topic of a number of research reports. Mizuho raised their price objective on Equity Residential from $61.00 to $64.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, May 30th. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their price objective on shares of Equity Residential from $74.00 to $75.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 31st. Truist Financial upped their price objective on shares of Equity Residential from $73.00 to $77.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 29th. The Goldman Sachs Group began coverage on shares of Equity Residential in a research report on Wednesday, September 4th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $81.00 target price on the stock. Finally, UBS Group raised their price objective on Equity Residential from $75.00 to $82.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 18th. Twelve research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $74.09.

Insider Transactions at Equity Residential

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

Equity Residential 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.