Principal Financial Group Inc. Buys 591,866 Shares of Equity Residential (NYSE:EQR)

Principal Financial Group Inc. raised its stake in Equity Residential (NYSE:EQR) by 8.3% during the third quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 7,745,615 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after acquiring an additional 591,866 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc. owned about 2.04% of Equity Residential worth $576,737,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of EQR. Norden Group LLC bought a new stake in Equity Residential in the first quarter valued at $414,000. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. grew its holdings in shares of Equity Residential by 8.0% during the first quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 105,753 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $6,272,000 after purchasing an additional 7,790 shares during the last quarter. Fidelis Capital Partners LLC bought a new stake in shares of Equity Residential during the first quarter worth $27,000. BI Asset Management Fondsmaeglerselskab A S grew its holdings in shares of Equity Residential by 104.8% during the first quarter. BI Asset Management Fondsmaeglerselskab A S now owns 5,048 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $319,000 after purchasing an additional 2,583 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Mediolanum International Funds Ltd bought a new stake in shares of Equity Residential during the first quarter worth $1,313,000. 92.68% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Equity Residential Stock Down 0.9 %

Shares of Equity Residential stock opened at $71.38 on Thursday. Equity Residential has a 1 year low of $53.48 and a 1 year high of $78.83. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.76, a current ratio of 0.13 and a quick ratio of 0.21. The company has a market capitalization of $27.06 billion, a P/E ratio of 29.25, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.87 and a beta of 0.90. The business has a 50-day moving average of $74.56 and a two-hundred day moving average of $70.31.

Equity Residential Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, October 11th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, September 24th were issued a $0.675 dividend. This represents a $2.70 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.78%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, September 24th. Equity Residential’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 110.66%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages have recently commented on EQR. UBS Group increased their target price on Equity Residential from $75.00 to $82.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, July 18th. Bank of America cut Equity Residential from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and increased their target price for the stock from $78.00 to $82.00 in a report on Tuesday, September 24th. Piper Sandler increased their target price on Equity Residential from $80.00 to $85.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 31st. Royal Bank of Canada decreased their price target on Equity Residential from $83.00 to $79.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, November 1st. Finally, Truist Financial raised their price target on Equity Residential from $73.00 to $77.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, August 29th. Twelve equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Equity Residential presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $76.19.

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.