Delta Investment Management LLC Makes New $932,000 Investment in Equity Residential (NYSE:EQR)

Delta Investment Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Equity Residential (NYSE:EQR) during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund purchased 15,236 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock, valued at approximately $932,000.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. CWM LLC grew its stake in shares of Equity Residential by 14.5% in the 3rd quarter. CWM LLC now owns 3,566 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $209,000 after purchasing an additional 452 shares during the last quarter. HB Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Equity Residential in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $210,000. Czech National Bank grew its stake in shares of Equity Residential by 49.3% in the 3rd quarter. Czech National Bank now owns 60,284 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $3,539,000 after purchasing an additional 19,915 shares during the last quarter. Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. grew its stake in shares of Equity Residential by 264.0% in the 3rd quarter. Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. now owns 374,059 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $21,961,000 after purchasing an additional 271,294 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Xponance Inc. grew its stake in shares of Equity Residential by 8.0% in the 3rd quarter. Xponance Inc. now owns 48,772 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $2,863,000 after purchasing an additional 3,595 shares during the last quarter. 92.68% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Equity Residential Stock Performance

Shares of EQR opened at $65.14 on Friday. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $61.99 and its 200 day moving average price is $59.84. Equity Residential has a 52 week low of $52.57 and a 52 week high of $69.45. The company has a market capitalization of $24.68 billion, a PE ratio of 27.03, a PEG ratio of 3.78 and a beta of 0.84. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.64, a quick ratio of 0.30 and a current ratio of 0.23.

Equity Residential (NYSE:EQR) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 23rd. The real estate investment trust reported $0.93 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.91 by $0.02. The firm had revenue of $730.80 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $728.09 million. Equity Residential had a net margin of 31.70% and a return on equity of 8.18%. The firm’s revenue was up 3.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $0.87 earnings per share. Research analysts expect that Equity Residential will post 3.85 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Equity Residential Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, April 12th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 25th were paid a $0.675 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, March 22nd. This is a boost from Equity Residential’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.66. This represents a $2.70 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.14%. Equity Residential’s payout ratio is 112.03%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Equity Residential

In other Equity Residential news, CFO Robert Garechana sold 876 shares of Equity Residential stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $57.80, for a total value of $50,632.80. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 20,933 shares in the company, valued at $1,209,927.40. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. In other news, CFO Robert Garechana sold 876 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $57.80, for a total value of $50,632.80. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 20,933 shares in the company, valued at $1,209,927.40. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, CAO Ian Kaufman sold 716 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 13th. The stock was 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 of the company’s stock, valued at $1,384,252.20. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 3,280 shares of company stock worth $192,335 over the last ninety days. 1.00% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

EQR has been the topic of several recent research reports. Piper Sandler reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and issued a $62.00 price objective on shares of Equity Residential in a research note on Tuesday, March 26th. The Goldman Sachs Group reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $70.00 price objective on shares of Equity Residential in a research note on Thursday, February 22nd. Raymond James raised shares of Equity Residential from an “underperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research report on Monday, March 18th. Evercore ISI lifted their target price on shares of Equity Residential from $67.00 to $70.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday. Finally, Barclays dropped their target price on shares of Equity Residential from $69.00 to $67.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, February 20th. Ten research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $66.04.

About Equity Residential

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.