Cerity Partners LLC Decreases Stake in Equity LifeStyle Properties, Inc. (NYSE:ELS)

Cerity Partners LLC lowered its stake in Equity LifeStyle Properties, Inc. (NYSE:ELS - Free Report) by 7.5% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 75,454 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock after selling 6,086 shares during the period. Cerity Partners LLC's holdings in Equity LifeStyle Properties were worth $5,377,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Principal Financial Group Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Equity LifeStyle Properties by 172.0% during the 4th quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 6,070,817 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $404,319,000 after purchasing an additional 3,838,809 shares during the period. Norges Bank purchased a new position in shares of Equity LifeStyle Properties during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $163,212,000. Cbre Investment Management Listed Real Assets LLC bought a new position in shares of Equity LifeStyle Properties during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $41,391,000. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Equity LifeStyle Properties by 1.6% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 25,053,845 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $1,668,586,000 after acquiring an additional 388,888 shares during the last quarter. Finally, ExodusPoint Capital Management LP boosted its holdings in Equity LifeStyle Properties by 442.8% during the 4th quarter. ExodusPoint Capital Management LP now owns 310,334 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $20,668,000 after acquiring an additional 253,161 shares during the period. 97.21% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Equity LifeStyle Properties Stock Up 0.6 %

Shares of Equity LifeStyle Properties stock traded up $0.40 on Friday, reaching $65.32. The stock had a trading volume of 1,430,162 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,294,910. Equity LifeStyle Properties, Inc. has a 1 year low of $58.86 and a 1 year high of $76.60. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $66.51 and a 200 day moving average price of $67.71. The company has a quick ratio of 0.03, a current ratio of 0.02 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15. The stock has a market capitalization of $12.49 billion, a P/E ratio of 33.50, a P/E/G ratio of 3.02 and a beta of 0.72.

Equity LifeStyle Properties (NYSE:ELS - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Monday, January 27th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.76 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, hitting analysts' consensus estimates of $0.76. Equity LifeStyle Properties had a return on equity of 23.12% and a net margin of 24.05%. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Equity LifeStyle Properties, Inc. will post 3.07 EPS for the current year.

Equity LifeStyle Properties Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, April 11th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 28th were paid a $0.515 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, March 28th. This is a boost from Equity LifeStyle Properties's previous quarterly dividend of $0.48. This represents a $2.06 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.15%. Equity LifeStyle Properties's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 105.64%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

ELS has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Robert W. Baird increased their target price on Equity LifeStyle Properties from $72.00 to $73.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 28th. 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 for the company in a report on Wednesday, January 29th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upgraded 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 research note on Tuesday, January 21st. Evercore ISI decreased their price target on shares of Equity LifeStyle Properties from $74.00 to $73.00 and set an "in-line" rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, January 28th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group initiated coverage on Equity LifeStyle Properties in a research note on Tuesday, April 8th. They issued a "buy" rating and a $80.00 price objective on the stock. Three 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. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Equity LifeStyle Properties presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $74.20.

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.