Franklin Resources Inc. Buys 6,973 Shares of Equity LifeStyle Properties, Inc. (NYSE:ELS)

Franklin Resources Inc. raised its position in shares of Equity LifeStyle Properties, Inc. (NYSE:ELS) by 0.9% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 816,774 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after purchasing an additional 6,973 shares during the period. Franklin Resources Inc. owned 0.43% of Equity LifeStyle Properties worth $54,397,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other large investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB increased its stake in shares of Equity LifeStyle Properties by 43.5% in the fourth quarter. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB now owns 564 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $38,000 after purchasing an additional 171 shares in the last quarter. Carmel Capital Partners LLC grew its stake in Equity LifeStyle Properties by 3.6% in the 4th quarter. Carmel Capital Partners LLC now owns 6,533 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $435,000 after buying an additional 230 shares in the last quarter. Corient Private Wealth LLC raised its holdings in Equity LifeStyle Properties by 1.0% during the 4th quarter. Corient Private Wealth LLC now owns 22,861 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $1,523,000 after acquiring an additional 230 shares during the period. HighTower Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of Equity LifeStyle Properties by 2.1% during the fourth quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC now owns 11,446 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $762,000 after acquiring an additional 238 shares in the last quarter. Finally, iA Global Asset Management Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Equity LifeStyle Properties by 7.2% in the fourth quarter. iA Global Asset Management Inc. now owns 3,800 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $253,000 after acquiring an additional 256 shares during the period. 97.21% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

ELS has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Robert W. Baird increased their price objective on Equity LifeStyle Properties from $72.00 to $73.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 28th. Royal Bank of Canada cut their price objective on shares of Equity LifeStyle Properties from $69.00 to $68.00 and set a “sector perform” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, January 29th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised shares of Equity LifeStyle Properties from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their target price for the stock from $66.00 to $73.00 in a report on Tuesday, January 21st. Jefferies Financial Group upgraded shares of Equity LifeStyle Properties from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their target price for the stock from $72.00 to $80.00 in a research note on Thursday, January 2nd. Finally, BMO Capital Markets raised shares of Equity LifeStyle Properties from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $78.00 price target on the stock in a report on Friday. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Equity LifeStyle Properties currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $74.20.

Equity LifeStyle Properties Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:ELS opened at $65.94 on Friday. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $66.98 and its 200-day moving average price is $68.32. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15, a current ratio of 0.02 and a quick ratio of 0.03. The firm has a market capitalization of $12.60 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 33.82, a PEG ratio of 3.02 and a beta of 0.72. Equity LifeStyle Properties, Inc. has a one year low of $59.82 and a one year high of $76.60.

Equity LifeStyle Properties (NYSE:ELS) last released its earnings results on Monday, January 27th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.76 EPS for the quarter, meeting analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.76. Equity LifeStyle Properties had a return on equity of 23.12% and a net margin of 24.05%. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Equity LifeStyle Properties, Inc. will post 3.07 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Equity LifeStyle Properties Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, April 11th. Investors of record on Friday, March 28th will be issued a dividend of $0.515 per share. This represents a $2.06 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.12%. This is a boost from Equity LifeStyle Properties’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.48. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 28th. Equity LifeStyle Properties’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 105.64%.

Equity LifeStyle Properties Company Profile

Equity LifeStyle Properties, Inc is a real estate investment trust, which engages in the ownership and operation of lifestyle-oriented properties consisting primarily of manufactured home, and recreational vehicle communities. It operates through the following segments: Property Operations and Home Sales and Rentals Operations.