Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. Buys 38,637 Shares of Equity Residential $EQR

Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. lifted its stake in Equity Residential (NYSE:EQR) by 1.8% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 2,135,233 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after purchasing an additional 38,637 shares during the period. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. owned 0.56% of Equity Residential worth $138,214,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Rothschild Investment LLC boosted its position in Equity Residential by 6.8% in the 2nd quarter. Rothschild Investment LLC now owns 2,841 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $192,000 after buying an additional 182 shares during the last quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers lifted its stake in shares of Equity Residential by 0.4% during the second quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers now owns 48,030 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $3,242,000 after acquiring an additional 183 shares during the period. CX Institutional increased its position in Equity Residential by 6.1% in the third quarter. CX Institutional now owns 3,274 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $212,000 after purchasing an additional 189 shares during the period. Louisiana State Employees Retirement System increased its position in Equity Residential by 1.1% in the third quarter. Louisiana State Employees Retirement System now owns 18,200 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $1,178,000 after purchasing an additional 200 shares during the period. Finally, Global X Japan Co. Ltd. raised its holdings in Equity Residential by 23.4% during the 2nd quarter. Global X Japan Co. Ltd. now owns 1,106 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $75,000 after purchasing an additional 210 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.68% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

EQR has been the topic of several recent research reports. UBS Group raised their target price on shares of Equity Residential from $68.00 to $71.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 8th. Weiss Ratings restated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Equity Residential in a report on Wednesday, October 8th. BMO Capital Markets cut shares of Equity Residential from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating and reduced their price objective for the company from $70.00 to $68.00 in a research note on Friday. Truist Financial dropped their target price on shares of Equity Residential from $75.00 to $70.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, November 17th. Finally, Barclays reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and issued a $78.00 price target on shares of Equity Residential in a research note on Tuesday. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and twelve have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $70.14.

Equity Residential Price Performance

Shares of NYSE EQR opened at $60.17 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.75, a current ratio of 0.45 and a quick ratio of 0.45. The business has a 50-day moving average of $61.11 and a 200-day moving average of $63.30. The stock has a market capitalization of $22.89 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.86, a PEG ratio of 3.05 and a beta of 0.75. Equity Residential has a fifty-two week low of $58.38 and a fifty-two week high of $75.86.

Equity Residential (NYSE:EQR) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 28th. The real estate investment trust reported $1.02 EPS for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate of $1.02. The company had revenue of $782.41 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $779.68 million. Equity Residential had a return on equity of 10.30% and a net margin of 37.58%.During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $0.98 EPS. Equity Residential has set its Q4 2025 guidance at 1.020-1.060 EPS and its FY 2025 guidance at 3.980-4.020 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Equity Residential will post 3.98 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Equity Residential Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, January 16th. Stockholders of record on Friday, January 2nd will be given a $0.6925 dividend. This represents a $2.77 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.6%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, January 2nd. Equity Residential’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 91.42%.

About Equity Residential

Equity Residential (NYSE: EQR) is a publicly traded real estate investment trust that acquires, develops, owns and operates rental apartment properties. Headquartered in Chicago, the company focuses on delivering professionally managed, market-rate apartment homes and related services to renters. Its operations cover a range of property types, including high-rise and mid-rise assets, with amenities and on-site management designed to support resident retention and occupancy.

The company’s core activities include property acquisitions, development and redevelopment, leasing, and day-to-day property management.