Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund Grows Stake in Equity LifeStyle Properties, Inc. (NYSE:ELS)

Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund grew its position in Equity LifeStyle Properties, Inc. (NYSE:ELS - Free Report) by 76.9% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 18,610 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock after acquiring an additional 8,088 shares during the period. Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund's holdings in Equity LifeStyle Properties were worth $1,239,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. acquired a new position in Equity LifeStyle Properties in the fourth quarter valued at about $30,000. Board of the Pension Protection Fund bought a new stake in shares of Equity LifeStyle Properties in the fourth quarter worth $33,000. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB grew its position in shares of Equity LifeStyle Properties by 43.5% in the 4th quarter. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB now owns 564 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $38,000 after buying an additional 171 shares during the last quarter. UMB Bank n.a. increased its position in Equity LifeStyle Properties by 68.2% during the 4th quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 898 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $60,000 after purchasing an additional 364 shares during the period. Finally, Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB acquired a new stake in shares of Equity LifeStyle Properties during the third quarter worth $72,000. 97.21% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts have issued reports on the company. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised Equity LifeStyle Properties from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and boosted their price target for the company from $66.00 to $73.00 in a research note on Tuesday, January 21st. Royal Bank of Canada decreased their price target on shares of Equity LifeStyle Properties from $69.00 to $68.00 and set a "sector perform" rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, January 29th. Robert W. Baird boosted 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. Jefferies Financial Group raised shares of Equity LifeStyle Properties from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and boosted their price target for the stock from $72.00 to $80.00 in a report on Thursday, January 2nd. Finally, Evercore ISI dropped 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 research note on Tuesday, January 28th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, six have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $73.78.

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Equity LifeStyle Properties Price Performance

Shares of ELS stock traded up $0.65 during trading hours on Wednesday, hitting $68.71. 1,454,086 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,495,935. The company has a market capitalization of $13.13 billion, a PE ratio of 35.24, a PEG ratio of 3.02 and a beta of 0.79. 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, Inc. has a 12-month low of $59.82 and a 12-month high of $76.60. The business's 50 day simple moving average is $66.41 and its 200-day simple moving average is $69.10.

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

Equity LifeStyle Properties Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, April 11th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 28th will be paid a $0.515 dividend. This represents a $2.06 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.00%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 28th. This is a boost from Equity LifeStyle Properties's previous quarterly dividend of $0.48. Equity LifeStyle Properties's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 105.64%.

Equity LifeStyle Properties 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.