Winebrenner Capital Management LLC Buys New Shares in Equity Residential (NYSE:EQR)

Winebrenner Capital Management LLC purchased a new stake in Equity Residential (NYSE:EQR) during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund purchased 10,000 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock, valued at approximately $718,000.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB acquired a new stake in shares of Equity Residential in the third quarter valued at about $29,000. Assetmark Inc. grew its stake in Equity Residential by 2,529.4% in the third 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 acquired a new position in shares of Equity Residential during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $33,000. Continuum Advisory LLC bought a new stake in shares of Equity Residential during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $40,000. Finally, Grove Bank & Trust boosted its holdings in shares of Equity Residential by 208.1% in the 4th 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. 92.68% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

EQR has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Evercore ISI boosted their target price on shares of Equity Residential from $74.00 to $76.00 and gave the stock an “in-line” rating in a report on Monday, February 10th. Stifel Nicolaus raised shares of Equity Residential from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their price objective for the company from $77.75 to $81.50 in a research report on Wednesday, November 13th. Mizuho dropped their target price on shares of Equity Residential from $78.00 to $74.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, January 6th. Wells Fargo & Company cut their target price on shares of Equity Residential from $77.00 to $75.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, January 24th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada lowered their price target on Equity Residential from $83.00 to $79.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, November 1st. Eleven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $78.42.

Equity Residential Price Performance

NYSE:EQR opened at $71.56 on Friday. Equity Residential has a 52 week low of $58.81 and a 52 week high of $78.83. 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 firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $70.44 and its 200 day simple moving average is $72.78. The firm has a market cap of $27.17 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.31, a P/E/G ratio of 3.96 and a beta of 0.93.

Equity Residential Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, January 17th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, January 2nd were issued a dividend of $0.675 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, January 2nd. This represents a $2.70 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.77%. Equity Residential’s dividend payout ratio is presently 99.26%.

Insider Activity

In other Equity Residential news, COO Michael L. Manelis sold 9,487 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $72.07, for a total transaction of $683,728.09. Following the sale, the chief operating officer now directly owns 26,781 shares in the company, valued at $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 SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, EVP Scott Fenster sold 5,340 shares of the business’s 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 $384,800.40. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 35,507 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,558,634.42. The trade was a 13.07 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 19,763 shares of company stock worth $1,424,217. Corporate insiders own 1.00% of the company’s stock.

Equity Residential 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.