CANADA LIFE ASSURANCE Co Buys 61,936 Shares of Equity Residential (NYSE:EQR)

CANADA LIFE ASSURANCE Co lifted its stake in shares of Equity Residential (NYSE:EQR) by 8.8% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 767,553 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after purchasing an additional 61,936 shares during the period. CANADA LIFE ASSURANCE Co owned 0.20% of Equity Residential worth $55,073,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. SRS Capital Advisors Inc. lifted its stake in Equity Residential by 607.8% in the fourth quarter. SRS Capital Advisors Inc. now owns 361 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $26,000 after acquiring an additional 310 shares during the last quarter. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB bought a new position in Equity Residential during the third quarter worth about $29,000. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC grew its holdings in Equity Residential by 38.8% during the fourth quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 558 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $40,000 after purchasing an additional 156 shares during the period. Steward Partners Investment Advisory LLC increased its position in Equity Residential by 109.5% during the fourth quarter. Steward Partners Investment Advisory LLC now owns 551 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $40,000 after buying an additional 288 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Grove Bank & Trust lifted its position in shares of Equity Residential by 208.1% in the fourth quarter. Grove Bank & Trust now owns 610 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $44,000 after buying an additional 412 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.68% of the company’s stock.

Equity Residential Price Performance

Equity Residential stock opened at $68.16 on Friday. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $69.83 and a 200-day moving average of $71.47. The stock has a market capitalization of $25.88 billion, a P/E ratio of 25.06, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.99 and a beta of 0.85. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.72, a quick ratio of 0.36 and a current ratio of 0.36. Equity Residential has a 52 week low of $59.41 and a 52 week high of $78.84.

Equity Residential Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, April 17th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 31st were issued a $0.6925 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, March 31st. This represents a $2.77 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.06%. This is a boost from Equity Residential’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.68. Equity Residential’s dividend payout ratio is 101.84%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

EQR has been the topic of several research analyst reports. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price objective on shares of Equity Residential from $77.00 to $75.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, January 24th. Barclays cut their price objective on shares of Equity Residential from $83.00 to $79.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, January 24th. Stifel Nicolaus set a $82.25 target price on Equity Residential in a research report on Tuesday, February 4th. Mizuho dropped their price target on Equity Residential from $78.00 to $74.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Monday, January 6th. Finally, Evercore ISI upped their price objective on Equity Residential from $74.00 to $76.00 and gave the company an “in-line” rating in a report on Monday, February 10th. Ten equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $78.51.

Insider Activity

In other news, COO Michael L. Manelis sold 9,487 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $72.07, for a total transaction of $683,728.09. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer now directly owns 26,781 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,930,106.67. This represents a 26.16 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, EVP Scott Fenster sold 5,340 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $72.06, for a total value of $384,800.40. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 35,507 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,558,634.42. This trade represents a 13.07 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 19,763 shares of company stock worth $1,424,217. Corporate insiders own 1.00% of the company’s stock.

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.