LVW Advisors LLC Buys 677 Shares of Equity Residential (NYSE:EQR)

LVW Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of Equity Residential (NYSE:EQR) by 7.2% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 10,091 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after purchasing an additional 677 shares during the period. LVW Advisors LLC’s holdings in Equity Residential were worth $724,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in EQR. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC increased its holdings in Equity Residential by 806.4% during the 3rd quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 4,259,145 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $317,136,000 after purchasing an additional 3,789,234 shares in the last quarter. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in Equity Residential by 1,459.8% during the 3rd quarter. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC now owns 1,949,473 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $145,158,000 after purchasing an additional 1,824,494 shares in the last quarter. FMR LLC increased its holdings in Equity Residential by 29.0% during the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 7,746,494 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $576,804,000 after purchasing an additional 1,741,840 shares in the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Equity Residential by 8.3% in the third quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 7,745,615 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $576,737,000 after acquiring an additional 591,866 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Heitman Real Estate Securities LLC grew its holdings in shares of Equity Residential by 2,193.2% in the third quarter. Heitman Real Estate Securities LLC now owns 416,647 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $31,024,000 after acquiring an additional 398,478 shares in the last quarter. 92.68% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have recently issued reports on EQR. Barclays began coverage on Equity Residential in a report on Tuesday, December 17th. They issued an “overweight” rating and a $83.00 target price for the company. Scotiabank reduced their target price on Equity Residential from $81.00 to $78.00 and set a “sector perform” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, November 14th. Bank of America lowered Equity Residential from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and upped their target price for the company from $78.00 to $82.00 in a report on Tuesday, September 24th. Royal Bank of Canada reduced their target price on Equity Residential from $83.00 to $79.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Friday, November 1st. Finally, StockNews.com raised Equity Residential from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, January 13th. Eleven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $78.69.

Equity Residential Price Performance

NYSE:EQR opened at $69.78 on Monday. The firm has a market capitalization of $26.48 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.60, a P/E/G ratio of 5.25 and a beta of 0.93. Equity Residential has a 52-week low of $57.33 and a 52-week high of $78.83. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $72.46 and a 200 day moving average of $72.58. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.76, a quick ratio of 0.13 and a current ratio of 0.13.

Equity Residential Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, January 17th. Investors of record on Thursday, January 2nd were paid a dividend of $0.675 per share. This represents a $2.70 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.87%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, January 2nd. Equity Residential’s dividend payout ratio is 110.66%.

Equity Residential Company 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.