Equity Residential (EQR) will pay a special cash dividend of $3 per share. Earlier this year Equity Residential already paid a special dividend of $8 per share. The special cash dividend of $3 per common share will be paid on October 14, 2016 to shareholders of record on September 26, 2016. 

"This distribution will bring the total capital returned to our shareholders in 2016 to more than $4 billion, the largest amount ever paid in the real estate sector," said David J. Neithercut, Equity Residential's President and CEO in the company's press release. "The return of this capital following the sale of non-core assets, which produced an Unlevered Internal Rate of Return of 11.8%, is a sound capital allocation decision and positions Equity Residential with a portfolio of properties in high density coastal markets that will produce superior, long-term risk adjusted returns for our shareholders."

Equity Residential is a real estate company focused on the acquisition, development and management of rental apartment properties located in urban and high-density suburban markets in U.S. cities. Equity Residential owns or has investments in properties consisting of apartment units, primarily located in Boston, New York, Washington, D.C., Seattle, San Francisco, Southern California and Denver. The company’s corporate headquarters is located in Chicago, Illinois and the company also operates regional property management offices in each of its markets. A dividend has been paid every year since 2003 by the real estate investment trust.