U.S. Capital Wealth Advisors LLC Increases Stake in Equity Residential (NYSE:EQR)

U.S. Capital Wealth Advisors LLC increased its position in Equity Residential (NYSE:EQR) by 6.0% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 59,495 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after acquiring an additional 3,347 shares during the quarter. U.S. Capital Wealth Advisors LLC’s holdings in Equity Residential were worth $4,430,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Maryland Capital Advisors Inc. purchased a new position in Equity Residential during the 3rd quarter valued at about $25,000. Fidelis Capital Partners LLC purchased a new position in shares of Equity Residential during the first quarter worth about $27,000. UMB Bank n.a. grew its holdings in shares of Equity Residential by 69.6% during the third quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 475 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $35,000 after purchasing an additional 195 shares in the last quarter. Massmutual Trust Co. FSB ADV grew its holdings in shares of Equity Residential by 41.9% during the second quarter. Massmutual Trust Co. FSB ADV now owns 525 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $36,000 after purchasing an additional 155 shares in the last quarter. Finally, HHM Wealth Advisors LLC grew its holdings in shares of Equity Residential by 146.6% during the second quarter. HHM Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 550 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $38,000 after purchasing an additional 327 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.68% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

EQR has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. The Goldman Sachs Group initiated coverage on Equity Residential in a report on Wednesday, September 4th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $81.00 price objective for the company. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised Equity Residential from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their target price for the stock from $62.00 to $83.00 in a research note on Tuesday, September 10th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price on Equity Residential from $68.00 to $80.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, September 16th. UBS Group upped their target price on Equity Residential from $75.00 to $82.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 18th. Finally, BNP Paribas initiated coverage on Equity Residential in a research note on Wednesday, September 11th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $83.00 target price for the company. Twelve investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Equity Residential has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $75.97.

Equity Residential Trading Up 1.9 %

Shares of Equity Residential stock traded up $1.44 during midday trading on Wednesday, reaching $75.59. 255,855 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,860,168. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.64, a quick ratio of 0.21 and a current ratio of 0.21. The company has a market cap of $28.69 billion, a PE ratio of 30.76, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 6.05 and a beta of 0.89. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $74.42 and a 200-day moving average of $69.51. Equity Residential has a 12 month low of $52.57 and a 12 month high of $78.83.

Equity Residential (NYSE:EQR) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Monday, July 29th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.47 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.96 by ($0.49). The firm had revenue of $734.20 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $735.26 million. Equity Residential had a return on equity of 8.53% and a net margin of 32.83%. Equity Residential’s revenue for the quarter was up 2.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $0.94 EPS. As a group, equities analysts expect that Equity Residential will post 3.89 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Equity Residential Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, October 11th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, September 24th were issued a $0.675 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, September 24th. This represents a $2.70 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.57%. Equity Residential’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 112.03%.

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.