Westpac Banking Corp Raises Position in Equity Residential $EQR

Westpac Banking Corp raised its position in shares of Equity Residential (NYSE:EQR) by 139.0% during the 3rd quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 110,860 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after acquiring an additional 64,467 shares during the period. Westpac Banking Corp’s holdings in Equity Residential were worth $7,176,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in EQR. Empowered Funds LLC lifted its stake in shares of Equity Residential by 3.1% in the 1st quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 7,489 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $536,000 after purchasing an additional 226 shares during the period. Focus Partners Advisor Solutions LLC purchased a new position in Equity Residential during the second quarter valued at $244,000. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Equity Residential by 21.1% during the 2nd quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 143,307 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $9,672,000 after buying an additional 24,984 shares in the last quarter. Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd grew its position in shares of Equity Residential by 26.8% in the 2nd quarter. Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd now owns 37,474 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $2,529,000 after buying an additional 7,913 shares during the period. Finally, Teacher Retirement System of Texas increased its stake in shares of Equity Residential by 4.0% in the 2nd quarter. Teacher Retirement System of Texas now owns 51,896 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $3,502,000 after acquiring an additional 1,975 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 92.68% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms recently commented on EQR. Cantor Fitzgerald boosted their price objective on shares of Equity Residential from $61.00 to $64.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, February 9th. Evercore lifted their target price on shares of Equity Residential from $68.00 to $69.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, February 9th. Wall Street Zen raised Equity Residential from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, November 3rd. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their price target on Equity Residential from $69.00 to $71.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 12th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price objective on Equity Residential from $68.00 to $62.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, November 10th. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and thirteen have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Equity Residential has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $69.78.

Insider Activity at Equity Residential

In other news, COO Michael L. Manelis sold 5,765 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $65.13, for a total transaction of $375,474.45. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer directly owned 46,131 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,004,512.03. This represents a 11.11% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, EVP Catherine Carraway sold 656 shares of Equity Residential stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $65.13, for a total value of $42,725.28. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 18,339 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,194,419.07. The trade was a 3.45% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders have sold a total of 10,058 shares of company stock worth $655,078 over the last quarter. Company insiders own 1.10% of the company’s stock.

Equity Residential Stock Down 0.2%

Equity Residential stock opened at $63.44 on Thursday. Equity Residential has a 12 month low of $58.38 and a 12 month high of $75.86. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $62.45 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $62.57. The company has a current ratio of 0.31, a quick ratio of 0.31 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.73. The firm has a market cap of $23.95 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.65, a PEG ratio of 4.78 and a beta of 0.76.

Equity Residential (NYSE:EQR) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 5th. The real estate investment trust reported $1.03 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.04 by ($0.01). Equity Residential had a net margin of 36.20% and a return on equity of 9.98%. The business had revenue of $781.91 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $786.35 million. During the same period last year, the business earned $1.00 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 2.0% on a year-over-year basis. Equity Residential has set its Q1 2026 guidance at 0.940-0.980 EPS and its FY 2026 guidance at 4.020-4.140 EPS. Equities analysts predict that Equity Residential will post 3.98 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Equity Residential Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, January 16th. Stockholders of record on Friday, January 2nd were issued a dividend of $0.6925 per share. This represents a $2.77 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.4%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, January 2nd. Equity Residential’s payout ratio is presently 94.54%.

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.