Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. Sells 50,711 Shares of Equity Residential $EQR

Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. cut its stake in shares of Equity Residential (NYSE:EQR) by 2.4% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 2,034,473 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after selling 50,711 shares during the period. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. owned about 0.54% of Equity Residential worth $120,339,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. CIBC Bancorp USA Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Equity Residential in the third quarter worth $9,094,000. Pensionfund Sabic bought a new position in Equity Residential in the fourth quarter valued at about $1,567,000. Wolverine Asset Management LLC purchased a new position in Equity Residential in the fourth quarter worth about $1,964,000. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. boosted its position in Equity Residential by 5.8% in the fourth quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 1,016,454 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $63,051,000 after purchasing an additional 55,786 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Pensionfund PDN purchased a new position in Equity Residential in the fourth quarter worth about $3,124,000. 92.68% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms have recently commented on EQR. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target on shares of Equity Residential from $71.00 to $72.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, May 5th. Cantor Fitzgerald boosted their target price on shares of Equity Residential from $64.00 to $66.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, May 4th. Evercore upped their target price on shares of Equity Residential from $70.00 to $71.00 in a report on Monday, June 8th. Royal Bank Of Canada downgraded shares of Equity Residential from an “outperform” rating to a “sector perform” rating and increased their price target for the stock from $69.00 to $70.00 in a research report on Monday, June 8th. Finally, Mizuho lifted their price target on shares of Equity Residential from $66.00 to $70.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, June 10th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nine have issued a Buy rating and thirteen have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Equity Residential currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $70.80.

Equity Residential Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE EQR traded up $0.64 during trading on Friday, hitting $68.72. The company had a trading volume of 2,380,560 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,786,122. Equity Residential has a 12 month low of $57.57 and a 12 month high of $71.50. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.77, a quick ratio of 0.18 and a current ratio of 0.18. The firm has a market capitalization of $25.75 billion, a P/E ratio of 27.49, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.41 and a beta of 0.74. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $66.69 and a 200 day simple moving average of $63.52.

Equity Residential (NYSE:EQR) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 28th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.24 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.33 by ($0.09). Equity Residential had a net margin of 30.63% and a return on equity of 8.57%. The firm had revenue of $779.85 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $781.79 million. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $0.95 EPS. Equity Residential’s revenue for the quarter was up 2.5% compared to the same quarter last year. 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, analysts anticipate that Equity Residential will post 4.09 earnings per share for the current year.

Equity Residential Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, July 10th. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 29th were given a dividend of $0.7025 per share. This represents a $2.81 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.1%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, June 29th. Equity Residential’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 112.40%.

Equity Residential Company 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.