Equity Residential (NYSE:EQR) Short Interest Down 8.1% in June

Equity Residential (NYSE:EQR) saw a large drop in short interest in June. As of June 15th, there was short interest totalling 5,350,000 shares, a drop of 8.1% from the May 31st total of 5,820,000 shares. Based on an average trading volume of 1,860,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 2.9 days. Currently, 1.4% of the company’s stock are short sold.

Equity Residential Stock Performance

Shares of Equity Residential stock traded down $0.71 on Wednesday, hitting $67.49. 713,244 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,973,196. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.64, a quick ratio of 0.23 and a current ratio of 0.23. The stock has a market capitalization of $25.62 billion, a PE ratio of 28.00, a PEG ratio of 3.98 and a beta of 0.87. Equity Residential has a 1 year low of $52.57 and a 1 year high of $69.65. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $66.36 and a 200-day simple moving average of $62.98.

Equity Residential (NYSE:EQR) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, April 23rd. The real estate investment trust reported $0.93 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.91 by $0.02. The company had revenue of $730.80 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $728.09 million. Equity Residential had a return on equity of 8.18% and a net margin of 31.70%. Equity Residential’s quarterly revenue was up 3.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $0.87 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Equity Residential will post 3.88 EPS for the current year.

Equity Residential Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, July 12th. Investors of record on Monday, July 1st will be issued a $0.675 dividend. This represents a $2.70 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.00%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, July 1st. Equity Residential’s dividend payout ratio is 112.03%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

EQR has been the topic of several analyst reports. Raymond James upgraded shares of Equity Residential from an “underperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research note on Monday, March 18th. Wedbush reiterated a “neutral” rating and set a $68.00 target price on shares of Equity Residential in a research note on Monday, April 29th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price target on Equity Residential from $66.00 to $69.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, May 31st. Morgan Stanley upped their price target on Equity Residential from $68.00 to $70.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Tuesday, May 14th. Finally, Scotiabank lifted their price objective on Equity Residential from $65.00 to $72.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a report on Tuesday, May 14th. Eleven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $69.09.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, EVP Alexander Brackenridge sold 4,027 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, April 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $65.01, for a total transaction of $261,795.27. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 69,901 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,544,264.01. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. In other news, Director Mary Kay Haben sold 3,241 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, April 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $65.48, for a total transaction of $212,220.68. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 9,720 shares in the company, valued at $636,465.60. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Alexander Brackenridge sold 4,027 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, April 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $65.01, for a total transaction of $261,795.27. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 69,901 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,544,264.01. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 13,625 shares of company stock worth $913,158 in the last three months. 1.00% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Equity Residential

Large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its position in shares of Equity Residential by 0.7% during the 3rd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 57,395,793 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $3,369,707,000 after purchasing an additional 372,181 shares during the period. Norges Bank bought a new stake in Equity Residential during the fourth quarter valued at about $2,143,388,000. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD lifted its position 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 acquiring an additional 381,236 shares in the last quarter. APG Asset Management US Inc. lifted its position in shares of Equity Residential by 0.6% in the fourth quarter. APG Asset Management US Inc. now owns 11,598,251 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $709,349,000 after acquiring an additional 71,716 shares in the last quarter. Finally, First Eagle Investment Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Equity Residential by 5.9% in the fourth quarter. First Eagle Investment Management LLC now owns 9,325,268 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $570,333,000 after acquiring an additional 516,941 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.68% of the company’s stock.

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.