MQS Management LLC Buys Shares of 24,549 Equity Residential $EQR

MQS Management LLC bought a new stake in Equity Residential (NYSE:EQR) during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund bought 24,549 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock, valued at approximately $1,548,000. Equity Residential accounts for approximately 0.9% of MQS Management LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 2nd largest holding.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Collier Financial purchased a new position in Equity Residential in the 3rd quarter valued at about $26,000. Fulcrum Asset Management LLP purchased a new position in Equity Residential in the 3rd quarter valued at about $27,000. Rosenberg Matthew Hamilton lifted its holdings in Equity Residential by 69.2% in the 4th quarter. Rosenberg Matthew Hamilton now owns 440 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $28,000 after purchasing an additional 180 shares in the last quarter. Harvest Fund Management Co. Ltd purchased a new position in Equity Residential in the 3rd quarter valued at about $31,000. Finally, Hantz Financial Services Inc. lifted its holdings in Equity Residential by 434.7% in the 3rd quarter. Hantz Financial Services Inc. now owns 540 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $35,000 after purchasing an additional 439 shares in the last quarter. 92.68% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Key Headlines Impacting Equity Residential

Here are the key news stories impacting Equity Residential this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Equity Residential’s merger with AvalonBay could improve scale, operating efficiency, and bargaining power across a portfolio of more than 180,000 rental apartments, supporting the investment case for the combined company. What the AvalonBay, Equity Residential megamerger means for the apartment industry and rents
• Positive Sentiment: Zacks Research raised several forward earnings estimates for Equity Residential, including Q1 2027, Q3 2027, Q4 2027, Q1 2028 and FY2028, signaling improved longer-term earnings expectations.
• Neutral Sentiment: Some 2026 and Q2 2027 EPS estimates were trimmed slightly, suggesting near-term earnings expectations are not uniformly improving, even as longer-dated forecasts rise.
• Negative Sentiment: The merger has also drawn shareholder-rights investigations, which could add legal noise and uncertainty around whether EQR investors are receiving a fair price in the deal.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. BNP Paribas Exane increased their price objective on shares of Equity Residential from $68.00 to $70.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, May 18th. Piper Sandler reiterated an “overweight” rating on shares of Equity Residential in a report on Friday. Evercore increased their price objective on shares of Equity Residential from $67.00 to $70.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 29th. Argus set a $70.00 price objective on shares of Equity Residential in a report on Thursday, March 12th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on shares of Equity Residential from $71.00 to $72.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, May 5th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eight have issued a Buy rating and twelve have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $70.11.

Equity Residential Trading Up 0.8%

Shares of EQR stock opened at $66.30 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $24.84 billion, a P/E ratio of 26.52, a PEG ratio of 5.22 and a beta of 0.76. Equity Residential has a 1-year low of $57.57 and a 1-year high of $70.31. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.77, a current ratio of 0.18 and a quick ratio of 0.18. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $62.21 and its 200-day simple moving average is $61.90.

Equity Residential (NYSE:EQR) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 28th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.24 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.33 by ($0.09). The company had revenue of $779.85 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $781.79 million. Equity Residential had a return on equity of 8.57% and a net margin of 30.63%.The company’s revenue was up 2.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $0.95 earnings per share. 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. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Equity Residential will post 4.09 EPS for the current year.

Equity Residential Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, April 10th. Investors of record on Monday, March 30th were given a dividend of $0.7025 per share. This is a boost from Equity Residential’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.69. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, March 30th. This represents a $2.81 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.2%. Equity Residential’s dividend payout ratio is currently 112.40%.

Equity Residential 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.