AQR Capital Management LLC Acquires 30,587 Shares of Equity Residential (NYSE:EQR)

AQR Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in Equity Residential (NYSE:EQR - Free Report) by 101.0% during the second quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 60,857 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock after purchasing an additional 30,587 shares during the quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC's holdings in Equity Residential were worth $4,195,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD increased its holdings in shares of Equity Residential by 1.9% in the first quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 20,267,675 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $1,279,095,000 after buying an additional 381,236 shares in the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. raised its position in shares of Equity Residential by 482.3% during the second quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 7,153,749 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $496,040,000 after purchasing an additional 5,925,177 shares during the period. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board raised its position in shares of Equity Residential by 1.2% during the second quarter. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board now owns 5,001,360 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $346,794,000 after purchasing an additional 60,000 shares during the period. Boston Partners lifted its holdings in shares of Equity Residential by 4.3% during the first quarter. Boston Partners now owns 2,715,151 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $171,368,000 after purchasing an additional 112,270 shares during the last quarter. Finally, American Century Companies Inc. boosted its position in shares of Equity Residential by 20.7% in the 2nd quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 2,180,190 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $151,174,000 after purchasing an additional 373,229 shares during the period. 92.68% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts have commented on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on shares of Equity Residential from $68.00 to $80.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Monday, September 16th. BNP Paribas assumed coverage on shares of Equity Residential in a research note on Wednesday, September 11th. They issued an "outperform" rating and a $83.00 price objective for the company. Wedbush lifted their price objective on shares of Equity Residential from $68.00 to $75.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Monday, August 5th. Bank of America lowered Equity Residential from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating and increased their target price for the company from $78.00 to $82.00 in a report on Tuesday, September 24th. Finally, Piper Sandler lifted their price target on Equity Residential from $80.00 to $85.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Wednesday, July 31st. Twelve research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $75.97.

Equity Residential Stock Up 0.3 %

Shares of EQR stock traded up $0.19 on Friday, hitting $73.53. The company's stock had a trading volume of 1,050,208 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,908,178. The stock has a market capitalization of $27.91 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 30.51, a P/E/G ratio of 5.60 and a beta of 0.89. Equity Residential has a fifty-two week low of $52.57 and a fifty-two week high of $78.83. The firm's fifty day moving average price is $73.64 and its 200-day moving average price is $68.52. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.64, a current ratio of 0.21 and a quick ratio of 0.21.

Equity Residential (NYSE:EQR - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Monday, July 29th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.47 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $0.96 by ($0.49). Equity Residential had a return on equity of 8.53% and a net margin of 32.83%. The company had revenue of $734.20 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $735.26 million. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $0.94 EPS. Equity Residential's quarterly revenue was up 2.4% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts anticipate that Equity Residential will post 3.89 EPS for the current year.

Equity Residential Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, October 11th. Investors of record on Tuesday, September 24th will be issued a dividend of $0.675 per share. This represents a $2.70 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.67%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, September 24th. Equity Residential's dividend payout ratio is currently 112.03%.

Equity Residential 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.