Equity Residential (EQR) will raise its quarterly dividend by 5.1 percent to $0.5675 per share in the first quarter of 2019. This is the second consecutive year of dividend increases by the REIT.

The increased dividend will be paid on April 12, 2019 to shareholders of record on March 25, 2019. A new annual rate of $2.27 per share yields 3.0% at a stock price of $75.

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.