CANADA LIFE ASSURANCE Co Raises Holdings in Equity LifeStyle Properties, Inc. (NYSE:ELS)

CANADA LIFE ASSURANCE Co boosted its stake in Equity LifeStyle Properties, Inc. (NYSE:ELS - Free Report) by 5.5% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 365,184 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock after purchasing an additional 18,899 shares during the period. CANADA LIFE ASSURANCE Co owned approximately 0.19% of Equity LifeStyle Properties worth $24,297,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in ELS. Capital Square LLC grew its position in shares of Equity LifeStyle Properties by 1.2% during the 4th quarter. Capital Square LLC now owns 23,248 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $1,563,000 after acquiring an additional 282 shares during the period. Ceredex Value Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Equity LifeStyle Properties during the fourth quarter valued at $36,520,000. Ontario Teachers Pension Plan Board grew its holdings in Equity LifeStyle Properties by 13.0% during the fourth quarter. Ontario Teachers Pension Plan Board now owns 38,390 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $2,557,000 after purchasing an additional 4,406 shares during the period. Aware Super Pty Ltd as trustee of Aware Super purchased a new stake in Equity LifeStyle Properties in the fourth quarter worth about $26,180,000. Finally, Walleye Capital LLC bought a new position in shares of Equity LifeStyle Properties in the fourth quarter worth about $591,000. 97.21% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Equity LifeStyle Properties Price Performance

Shares of ELS stock traded down $0.81 on Wednesday, reaching $62.88. The company's stock had a trading volume of 2,433,158 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,302,280. The stock's fifty day simple moving average is $66.33 and its 200-day simple moving average is $67.56. Equity LifeStyle Properties, Inc. has a 1 year low of $58.86 and a 1 year high of $76.60. The company has a market capitalization of $12.02 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 32.25, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.02 and a beta of 0.72. The company has a current ratio of 0.02, a quick ratio of 0.03 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15.

Equity LifeStyle Properties (NYSE:ELS - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Monday, April 21st. The real estate investment trust reported $0.83 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate of $0.83. The firm had revenue of $327.21 million for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $391.34 million. Equity LifeStyle Properties had a net margin of 24.05% and a return on equity of 23.12%. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $0.59 EPS. Analysts forecast 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 announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, April 11th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 28th were issued a $0.515 dividend. This represents a $2.06 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.28%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, March 28th. This is a positive change from Equity LifeStyle Properties's previous quarterly dividend of $0.48. Equity LifeStyle Properties's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 106.74%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms recently issued reports on ELS. Jefferies Financial Group initiated coverage on shares of Equity LifeStyle Properties in a report on Tuesday, April 8th. They issued a "buy" rating and a $80.00 target price for the company. Royal Bank of Canada decreased their price objective on shares of Equity LifeStyle Properties from $69.00 to $68.00 and set a "sector perform" rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, January 29th. Truist Financial raised shares of Equity LifeStyle Properties from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a report on Friday, January 17th. Robert W. Baird raised their price target on Equity LifeStyle Properties from $72.00 to $73.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Tuesday, January 28th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets dropped their price objective on Equity LifeStyle Properties from $78.00 to $77.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $74.10.

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.