Equity Residential (NYSE:EQR) Short Interest Update

Equity Residential (NYSE:EQR) was the recipient of a large increase in short interest in the month of February. As of February 28th, there was short interest totalling 6,670,000 shares, an increase of 16.2% from the February 13th total of 5,740,000 shares. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 1,580,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 4.2 days. Currently, 1.8% of the company’s stock are short sold.

Equity Residential Stock Up 0.6 %

EQR stock opened at $70.17 on Friday. Equity Residential has a one year low of $59.48 and a one year high of $78.84. The stock has a market capitalization of $26.64 billion, a PE ratio of 25.80, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.99 and a beta of 0.91. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.72, a quick ratio of 0.36 and a current ratio of 0.36. The company has a fifty day moving average of $70.74 and a 200-day moving average of $72.69.

Equity Residential Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, April 17th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 31st will be paid a $0.6925 dividend. This represents a $2.77 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.95%. This is a boost from Equity Residential’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.68. Equity Residential’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 99.26%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Equity Residential news, COO Michael L. Manelis sold 9,487 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $72.07, for a total value of $683,728.09. Following the sale, the chief operating officer now directly owns 26,781 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,930,106.67. This represents a 26.16 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, CAO Ian Kaufman sold 642 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $72.06, for a total transaction of $46,262.52. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 25,539 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,840,340.34. This represents a 2.45 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 19,763 shares of company stock valued at $1,424,217 in the last ninety days. Company insiders own 1.00% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Equity Residential

Several hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in EQR. SRS Capital Advisors Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Equity Residential by 607.8% in the 4th quarter. SRS Capital Advisors Inc. now owns 361 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $26,000 after acquiring an additional 310 shares during the period. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB acquired a new stake in shares of Equity Residential in the 3rd quarter worth $29,000. Assetmark Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Equity Residential by 2,529.4% in the 3rd quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 447 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $33,000 after purchasing an additional 430 shares in the last quarter. Brooklyn Investment Group purchased a new position in shares of Equity Residential in the 3rd quarter valued at about $33,000. Finally, Continuum Advisory LLC purchased a new position in shares of Equity Residential in the 3rd quarter valued at about $40,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.68% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts have commented on EQR shares. Mizuho dropped their price objective on shares of Equity Residential from $78.00 to $74.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, January 6th. StockNews.com raised shares of Equity Residential from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, February 8th. Stifel Nicolaus set a $82.25 target price on shares of Equity Residential in a research report on Tuesday, February 4th. Barclays dropped their target price on shares of Equity Residential from $83.00 to $79.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, January 24th. Finally, Truist Financial increased their target price on shares of Equity Residential from $76.00 to $78.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, March 10th. Ten equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $78.51.

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.