ING Groep NV Buys 36,818 Shares of Equity Residential $EQR

ING Groep NV boosted its stake in Equity Residential (NYSE:EQR) by 464.5% in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 44,745 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after acquiring an additional 36,818 shares during the quarter. ING Groep NV’s holdings in Equity Residential were worth $2,821,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in EQR. Empowered Funds LLC increased its position in 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 acquiring an additional 226 shares during the period. Cresset Asset Management LLC increased its position in Equity Residential by 13.9% in the 2nd quarter. Cresset Asset Management LLC now owns 4,836 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $330,000 after acquiring an additional 590 shares during the period. Jump Financial LLC increased its position in Equity Residential by 96.1% in the 2nd quarter. Jump Financial LLC now owns 11,300 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $763,000 after acquiring an additional 5,537 shares during the period. Federated Hermes Inc. acquired a new position in Equity Residential in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $100,000. Finally, Cerity Partners LLC increased its position in Equity Residential by 170.7% in the 2nd quarter. Cerity Partners LLC now owns 20,646 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $1,393,000 after acquiring an additional 13,018 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 92.68% of the company’s stock.

Equity Residential Trading Up 0.7%

NYSE:EQR opened at $67.81 on Wednesday. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $63.97 and its 200-day moving average is $62.54. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.77, a quick ratio of 0.18 and a current ratio of 0.18. Equity Residential has a 52 week low of $57.57 and a 52 week high of $70.21. The firm has a market cap of $25.40 billion, a P/E ratio of 27.12, a P/E/G ratio of 5.34 and a beta of 0.75.

Equity Residential (NYSE:EQR) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 28th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.24 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates 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 during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $781.79 million. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $0.95 earnings per share. The company’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. Equities analysts expect that Equity Residential will post 4.09 earnings per share for the current year.

Equity Residential Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, April 10th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 30th were paid a $0.7025 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, March 30th. This represents a $2.81 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.1%. This is an increase from Equity Residential’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.69. Equity Residential’s payout ratio is currently 112.40%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages have issued reports on EQR. UBS Group upped their price target on shares of Equity Residential from $71.00 to $73.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 14th. Weiss Ratings restated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Equity Residential in a research report on Tuesday, April 21st. Barclays upped their price target on shares of Equity Residential from $75.00 to $76.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, April 27th. Stifel Nicolaus upped their price target on shares of Equity Residential from $78.25 to $79.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 27th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group decreased their price target on shares of Equity Residential from $71.00 to $69.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, April 16th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nine have issued a Buy rating and thirteen have given a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $70.35.

About Equity Residential

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.