Equity LifeStyle Properties (NYSE:ELS) Trading 3.1% Higher Following Analyst Upgrade

Equity LifeStyle Properties, Inc. (NYSE:ELS)’s stock price was up 3.1% during mid-day trading on Wednesday after Compass Point raised their price target on the stock from $70.00 to $72.00. Compass Point currently has a neutral rating on the stock. Equity LifeStyle Properties traded as high as $70.89 and last traded at $70.81. Approximately 738,702 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 39% from the average daily volume of 1,204,292 shares. The stock had previously closed at $68.69.

ELS has been the topic of a number of other research reports. Truist Financial boosted their price target on Equity LifeStyle Properties from $65.00 to $70.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 30th. UBS Group raised shares of Equity LifeStyle Properties to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Thursday, October 10th. Jefferies Financial Group initiated coverage on Equity LifeStyle Properties in a research report on Thursday, October 17th. They issued a “hold” rating and a $72.00 target price on the stock. Evercore ISI raised their target price on Equity LifeStyle Properties from $76.00 to $77.00 and gave the stock an “in-line” rating in a research note on Monday. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company upgraded Equity LifeStyle Properties from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and boosted their price target for the company from $70.50 to $82.00 in a research note on Thursday, September 19th. Eight investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, four have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $71.64.

Insider Transactions at Equity LifeStyle Properties

In other news, CFO Paul Seavey sold 31,988 shares of Equity LifeStyle Properties stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, September 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $74.83, for a total value of $2,393,662.04. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 148,463 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $11,109,486.29. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. In other news, CEO Marguerite M. Nader sold 33,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, September 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $75.52, for a total transaction of $2,492,160.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 260,936 shares in the company, valued at $19,705,886.72. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CFO Paul Seavey sold 31,988 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, September 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $74.83, for a total value of $2,393,662.04. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 148,463 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $11,109,486.29. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 85,808 shares of company stock valued at $6,348,011 over the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 1.40% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Equity LifeStyle Properties

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of ELS. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its position in shares of Equity LifeStyle Properties by 1.0% during the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 25,069,389 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $1,614,469,000 after purchasing an additional 240,853 shares during the last quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. raised its stake in shares of Equity LifeStyle Properties by 7.8% in the 2nd quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 4,609,806 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $300,237,000 after acquiring an additional 331,945 shares during the period. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA raised its stake in shares of Equity LifeStyle Properties by 5.0% in the 2nd quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 3,218,638 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $209,630,000 after acquiring an additional 153,715 shares during the period. Boston Partners lifted its holdings in shares of Equity LifeStyle Properties by 4.2% in the 1st quarter. Boston Partners now owns 2,842,566 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $183,035,000 after acquiring an additional 113,891 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its position in shares of Equity LifeStyle Properties by 7.1% during the 2nd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 2,706,099 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $176,250,000 after purchasing an additional 178,258 shares during the period. 97.21% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Equity LifeStyle Properties Trading Up 3.3 %

The company has a quick ratio of 0.03, a current ratio of 0.03 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.34. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $71.19 and a 200-day simple moving average of $66.78. The company has a market cap of $13.23 billion, a PE ratio of 38.63, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.60 and a beta of 0.79.

Equity LifeStyle Properties (NYSE:ELS) last released its earnings results on Monday, October 21st. The real estate investment trust reported $0.44 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.72 by ($0.28). The firm had revenue of $387.30 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $315.78 million. Equity LifeStyle Properties had a net margin of 23.56% and a return on equity of 23.71%. The business’s revenue was down .4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $0.71 earnings per share. On average, analysts predict that Equity LifeStyle Properties, Inc. will post 2.92 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Equity LifeStyle Properties Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, October 11th. Stockholders of record on Friday, September 27th were issued a $0.4775 dividend. This represents a $1.91 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.69%. This is a positive change from Equity LifeStyle Properties’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.48. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, September 27th. Equity LifeStyle Properties’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 104.37%.

About Equity LifeStyle Properties

We are a self-administered, self-managed real estate investment trust (REIT) with headquarters in Chicago. As of January 29, 2024, we own or have an interest in 451 properties in 35 states and British Columbia consisting of 172,465 sites.