Equity LifeStyle Properties, Inc. (NYSE:ELS) Given Consensus Recommendation of "Moderate Buy" by Analysts

Equity LifeStyle Properties, Inc. (NYSE:ELS - Get Free Report) has been given an average recommendation of "Moderate Buy" by the eleven brokerages that are currently covering the stock, MarketBeat reports. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. The average twelve-month price target among brokers that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $74.10.

Several research firms have issued reports on ELS. Royal Bank of Canada dropped their price objective on Equity LifeStyle Properties from $69.00 to $68.00 and set a "sector perform" rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, January 29th. Evercore ISI cut their price target on shares of Equity LifeStyle Properties from $74.00 to $73.00 and set an "in-line" rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, January 28th. BMO Capital Markets decreased their price objective on shares of Equity LifeStyle Properties from $78.00 to $77.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a report on Tuesday. Jefferies Financial Group assumed coverage on shares of Equity LifeStyle Properties in a research note on Tuesday, April 8th. They issued a "buy" rating and a $80.00 target price on the stock. Finally, Robert W. Baird lifted their price target 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.

Equity LifeStyle Properties Stock Down 1.0 %

Shares of NYSE:ELS opened at $63.77 on Wednesday. The company has a market capitalization of $12.19 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 32.70, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.02 and a beta of 0.72. The company has a 50 day moving average of $66.38 and a two-hundred day moving average of $67.59. Equity LifeStyle Properties has a 52-week low of $58.86 and a 52-week high of $76.60. The company has a quick ratio of 0.03, a current ratio of 0.02 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15.

Equity LifeStyle Properties (NYSE:ELS - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Monday, April 21st. The real estate investment trust reported $0.83 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of $0.83. The firm had revenue of $327.21 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate 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 quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $0.59 EPS. As a group, analysts forecast that Equity LifeStyle Properties will post 3.07 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Equity LifeStyle Properties Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, April 11th. Investors of record on Friday, March 28th were issued a $0.515 dividend. This is an increase from Equity LifeStyle Properties's previous quarterly dividend of $0.48. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, March 28th. This represents a $2.06 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.23%. Equity LifeStyle Properties's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 106.74%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Empowered Funds LLC bought a new stake in shares of Equity LifeStyle Properties during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $380,000. Vert Asset Management LLC increased its position in Equity LifeStyle Properties by 9.8% in the 4th quarter. Vert Asset Management LLC now owns 79,516 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $5,296,000 after acquiring an additional 7,092 shares during the period. Nordea Investment Management AB raised its stake in Equity LifeStyle Properties by 6.4% during the 4th quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 21,574 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $1,432,000 after acquiring an additional 1,301 shares in the last quarter. Lecap Asset Management Ltd. boosted its position in Equity LifeStyle Properties by 185.8% during the 4th quarter. Lecap Asset Management Ltd. now owns 24,882 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $1,657,000 after acquiring an additional 16,176 shares during the period. Finally, Van ECK Associates Corp grew its stake in shares of Equity LifeStyle Properties by 0.9% in the fourth quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 82,239 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $5,477,000 after purchasing an additional 759 shares in the last quarter. 97.21% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.

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