Equity Residential (NYSE:EQR) Sees Large Increase in Short Interest

Equity Residential (NYSE:EQR) was the recipient of a large growth in short interest in the month of March. As of March 31st, there was short interest totalling 5,470,000 shares, a growth of 7.7% from the March 15th total of 5,080,000 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 2,110,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 2.6 days. Approximately 1.5% of the shares of the stock are sold short.

Insider Activity

In other news, CAO Ian Kaufman sold 716 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $57.80, for a total transaction of $41,384.80. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 23,949 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,384,252.20. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In other news, COO Michael L. Manelis sold 1,639 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, February 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $59.43, for a total transaction of $97,405.77. Following the sale, the chief operating officer now directly owns 31,053 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,845,479.79. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CAO Ian Kaufman sold 716 shares of Equity Residential stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $57.80, for a total transaction of $41,384.80. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 23,949 shares in the company, valued at $1,384,252.20. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 3,280 shares of company stock worth $192,335 in the last three months. Company insiders own 1.69% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Equity Residential

Large investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. raised its stake in shares of Equity Residential by 39.3% during the 3rd quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 234,022 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $13,739,000 after acquiring an additional 65,982 shares in the last quarter. Pallas Capital Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Equity Residential during the 4th quarter worth approximately $1,110,000. Wellington Management Group LLP grew its position in Equity Residential by 61.9% during the 3rd quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 64,809 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $3,805,000 after purchasing an additional 24,787 shares during the last quarter. Banque Cantonale Vaudoise grew its position in Equity Residential by 128.7% during the 3rd quarter. Banque Cantonale Vaudoise now owns 11,372 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $668,000 after purchasing an additional 6,400 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Adage Capital Partners GP L.L.C. boosted its holdings in shares of Equity Residential by 12.5% in the 3rd quarter. Adage Capital Partners GP L.L.C. now owns 743,250 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $43,636,000 after acquiring an additional 82,773 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 92.68% of the company’s stock.

Equity Residential Trading Up 1.2 %

Equity Residential stock traded up $0.73 during trading hours on Wednesday, hitting $60.41. The company had a trading volume of 2,654,188 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,068,876. The firm has a market cap of $22.93 billion, a P/E ratio of 27.13, a P/E/G ratio of 3.52 and a beta of 0.84. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.66, a quick ratio of 0.30 and a current ratio of 0.30. Equity Residential has a 1 year low of $52.57 and a 1 year high of $69.45. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $61.39 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $59.61.

Equity Residential (NYSE:EQR) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, January 30th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.82 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.00 by ($0.18). The company had revenue of $727.50 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $725.07 million. Equity Residential had a net margin of 29.07% and a return on equity of 7.43%. Equity Residential’s quarterly revenue was up 4.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm earned $0.94 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Equity Residential will post 3.86 earnings per share for the current year.

Equity Residential Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, April 12th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 25th were issued a $0.675 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, March 22nd. This represents a $2.70 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.47%. This is a positive change from Equity Residential’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.66. Equity Residential’s payout ratio is currently 122.73%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have issued reports on EQR. The Goldman Sachs Group reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $70.00 price target on shares of Equity Residential in a report on Thursday, February 22nd. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their price target on shares of Equity Residential from $65.00 to $66.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, February 1st. Raymond James upgraded shares of Equity Residential from an “underperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a report on Monday, March 18th. Truist Financial dropped their price objective on shares of Equity Residential from $71.00 to $67.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, April 9th. Finally, Morgan Stanley lifted their price objective on shares of Equity Residential from $58.00 to $64.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday, February 26th. Eleven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $65.32.

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.