Principal Financial Group Inc. Has $576.74 Million Stake in Equity Residential (NYSE:EQR)

Principal Financial Group Inc. lifted its position in shares of Equity Residential (NYSE:EQR) by 8.3% in the 3rd quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 7,745,615 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after purchasing an additional 591,866 shares during the quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc.’s holdings in Equity Residential were worth $576,737,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of EQR. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD lifted its stake in Equity Residential by 1.9% in the 1st quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 20,267,675 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $1,279,095,000 after acquiring an additional 381,236 shares in the last quarter. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board lifted its position in shares of Equity Residential by 1.2% in the second quarter. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board now owns 5,001,360 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $346,794,000 after purchasing an additional 60,000 shares in the last quarter. Boston Partners boosted its holdings in Equity Residential by 4.3% during the first quarter. Boston Partners now owns 2,715,151 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $171,368,000 after purchasing an additional 112,270 shares during the last quarter. American Century Companies Inc. grew its position in Equity Residential by 20.7% in the second quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 2,180,190 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $151,174,000 after purchasing an additional 373,229 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Holdings Inc. increased its stake in Equity Residential by 39.6% in the 2nd quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Holdings Inc. now owns 1,676,445 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $116,245,000 after buying an additional 475,124 shares during the last quarter. 92.68% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts have recently commented on EQR shares. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upgraded shares of Equity Residential from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their price objective for the stock from $62.00 to $83.00 in a research note on Tuesday, September 10th. The Goldman Sachs Group started coverage on Equity Residential in a report on Wednesday, September 4th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $81.00 target price on the stock. Royal Bank of Canada reduced their price target on Equity Residential from $83.00 to $79.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, November 1st. UBS Group increased their price target on Equity Residential from $75.00 to $82.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 18th. Finally, BNP Paribas started coverage on Equity Residential in a research report on Wednesday, September 11th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $83.00 price target for the company. Twelve investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $76.19.

Equity Residential Trading Down 0.9 %

Shares of NYSE:EQR opened at $71.38 on Thursday. Equity Residential has a 12-month low of $53.48 and a 12-month high of $78.83. The stock has a market cap of $27.06 billion, a PE ratio of 29.25, a P/E/G ratio of 5.87 and a beta of 0.90. The business has a 50 day moving average of $74.56 and a 200-day moving average of $70.31. The company has a quick ratio of 0.21, a current ratio of 0.13 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.76.

Equity Residential Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, October 11th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, September 24th were issued a dividend of $0.675 per share. This represents a $2.70 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.78%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, September 24th. Equity Residential’s dividend payout ratio is presently 110.66%.

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.