Equity LifeStyle Properties (NYSE:ELS) Upgraded at Jefferies Financial Group

Jefferies Financial Group upgraded shares of Equity LifeStyle Properties (NYSE:ELS - Free Report) from a hold rating to a buy rating in a research report sent to investors on Thursday, MarketBeat reports. Jefferies Financial Group currently has $80.00 target price on the real estate investment trust's stock, up from their prior target price of $72.00.

Other equities research analysts have also issued research reports about the stock. UBS Group upgraded shares of Equity LifeStyle Properties to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Thursday, October 10th. Robert W. Baird boosted their target price on shares of Equity LifeStyle Properties from $71.00 to $72.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 22nd. Truist Financial increased their target price on Equity LifeStyle Properties from $70.00 to $71.00 and gave the company a "hold" rating in a report on Tuesday, November 12th. Compass Point lifted their price target on Equity LifeStyle Properties from $70.00 to $72.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Finally, Evercore ISI increased their price objective on Equity LifeStyle Properties from $76.00 to $77.00 and gave the stock an "in-line" rating in a research note on Monday, October 21st. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, five have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $73.30.

Equity LifeStyle Properties Price Performance

Shares of NYSE ELS traded up $0.05 during trading on Thursday, hitting $66.65. The company had a trading volume of 1,719,280 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,209,380. The company has a market cap of $12.73 billion, a P/E ratio of 34.36, a PEG ratio of 3.61 and a beta of 0.77. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.35, a quick ratio of 0.03 and a current ratio of 0.03. The business's 50-day moving average is $69.49 and its 200 day moving average is $69.28. Equity LifeStyle Properties has a 52 week low of $59.82 and a 52 week high of $76.60.

Equity LifeStyle Properties (NYSE:ELS - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Monday, October 21st. The real estate investment trust reported $0.44 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.72 by ($0.28). The company had revenue of $387.30 million for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $315.78 million. Equity LifeStyle Properties had a net margin of 23.97% and a return on equity of 24.10%. The company's revenue for the quarter was down .4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $0.71 earnings per share. Equities research analysts predict that Equity LifeStyle Properties will post 2.92 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Equity LifeStyle Properties Cuts Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, January 10th. Investors of record on Friday, December 27th will be paid a $0.477 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, December 27th. This represents a $1.91 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.86%. Equity LifeStyle Properties's payout ratio is 98.45%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Equity LifeStyle Properties

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in ELS. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased its stake in shares of Equity LifeStyle Properties by 3.2% during the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 4,761,879 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $339,713,000 after purchasing an additional 147,332 shares during the last quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. boosted its holdings in Equity LifeStyle Properties by 0.9% in the third quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 4,649,670 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $331,707,000 after purchasing an additional 39,864 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its position in Equity LifeStyle Properties by 1.7% during the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 3,833,596 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $273,014,000 after buying an additional 65,191 shares during the last quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA raised its holdings in Equity LifeStyle Properties by 5.0% during the second 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 buying an additional 153,715 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its position in shares of Equity LifeStyle Properties by 7.1% in the second quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 2,706,099 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $176,250,000 after buying an additional 178,258 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 97.21% of the company's stock.

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.