Wolverine Asset Management LLC Takes Position in Equity Residential (NYSE:EQR)

Wolverine Asset Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Equity Residential (NYSE:EQR) in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm purchased 16,771 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock, valued at approximately $1,026,000.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Cornercap Investment Counsel Inc. grew its position in shares of Equity Residential by 2.6% during the 4th quarter. Cornercap Investment Counsel Inc. now owns 7,291 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $446,000 after purchasing an additional 185 shares in the last quarter. Czech National Bank grew its position in Equity Residential by 0.4% in the fourth quarter. Czech National Bank now owns 60,520 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $3,701,000 after acquiring an additional 236 shares in the last quarter. Covestor Ltd grew its position in Equity Residential by 17.3% in the third quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 1,626 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $95,000 after acquiring an additional 240 shares in the last quarter. Allworth Financial LP grew its position in Equity Residential by 120.8% in the fourth quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 488 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $30,000 after acquiring an additional 267 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Baldwin Brothers LLC MA grew its position in Equity Residential by 34.1% in the fourth quarter. Baldwin Brothers LLC MA now owns 1,145 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $70,000 after acquiring an additional 291 shares in the last quarter. 92.68% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at Equity Residential

In other news, CAO Ian Kaufman sold 716 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred 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 owns 23,949 shares in the company, valued at $1,384,252.20. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. In other news, COO Michael L. Manelis sold 1,639 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred 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 owns 31,053 shares in the company, valued at $1,845,479.79. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, CAO Ian Kaufman sold 716 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred 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 owns 23,949 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,384,252.20. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 3,280 shares of company stock valued at $192,335. Corporate insiders own 1.00% of the company’s stock.

Equity Residential Price Performance

EQR stock opened at $64.90 on Friday. Equity Residential has a 1 year low of $52.57 and a 1 year high of $69.45. The company has a market cap of $24.59 billion, a P/E ratio of 26.93, a PEG ratio of 3.76 and a beta of 0.84. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $61.89 and a 200 day moving average of $59.81. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.64, a current ratio of 0.23 and a quick ratio of 0.30.

Equity Residential (NYSE:EQR) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 23rd. The real estate investment trust reported $0.93 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.91 by $0.02. Equity Residential had a net margin of 31.70% and a return on equity of 8.18%. The company had revenue of $730.80 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $728.09 million. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $0.87 earnings per share. Equity Residential’s revenue was up 3.6% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Equity Residential will post 3.85 EPS for the current 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 dividend of $0.675 per share. This is an increase from Equity Residential’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.66. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, March 22nd. This represents a $2.70 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.16%. Equity Residential’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 112.03%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts recently issued reports on the stock. Truist Financial cut their target price on shares of Equity Residential from $71.00 to $67.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, April 9th. Royal Bank of Canada upped their target price on shares of Equity Residential from $65.00 to $66.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 1st. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft assumed coverage on shares of Equity Residential in a research report on Tuesday, January 30th. They set a “hold” rating and a $64.00 price target for the company. BMO Capital Markets upgraded shares of Equity Residential from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and upped their price target for the company from $68.00 to $70.00 in a research report on Monday. Finally, Barclays cut their price target on shares of Equity Residential from $69.00 to $67.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, February 20th. Ten investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $66.04.

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.