Resona Asset Management Co. Ltd. Invests $6.87 Million in Equity LifeStyle Properties, Inc. (NYSE:ELS)

Resona Asset Management Co. Ltd. bought a new position in shares of Equity LifeStyle Properties, Inc. (NYSE:ELS - Free Report) in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor bought 103,099 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock, valued at approximately $6,866,000. Resona Asset Management Co. Ltd. owned approximately 0.05% of Equity LifeStyle Properties at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Equity LifeStyle Properties by 1.6% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 25,053,845 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $1,668,586,000 after buying an additional 388,888 shares in the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. boosted its position in 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 acquiring an additional 3,838,809 shares during the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. grew 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 acquiring an additional 147,332 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Equity LifeStyle Properties by 1.4% in the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 3,887,371 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $258,536,000 after purchasing an additional 53,775 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA lifted its position in shares of Equity LifeStyle Properties by 0.8% in the fourth quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 3,201,077 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $213,192,000 after purchasing an additional 23,837 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 97.21% of the company's stock.

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Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts recently weighed in on ELS shares. Royal Bank of Canada decreased their target price on shares of Equity LifeStyle Properties from $69.00 to $68.00 and set a "sector perform" rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, January 29th. Evercore ISI decreased their price objective on Equity LifeStyle Properties from $74.00 to $73.00 and set an "in-line" rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, January 28th. Truist Financial upgraded Equity LifeStyle Properties from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a report on Friday, January 17th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upgraded Equity LifeStyle Properties from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and raised their price target for the company from $66.00 to $73.00 in a research note on Tuesday, January 21st. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group started coverage on Equity LifeStyle Properties in a research note on Tuesday, April 8th. They set a "buy" rating and a $80.00 price objective on the stock. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Equity LifeStyle Properties has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $74.20.

Equity LifeStyle Properties Stock Performance

ELS traded up $0.57 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $64.31. The company's stock had a trading volume of 1,163,695 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,298,475. The company's 50-day moving average is $66.59 and its 200-day moving average is $67.83. Equity LifeStyle Properties, Inc. has a 52 week low of $58.86 and a 52 week high of $76.60. The firm has a market cap of $12.29 billion, a PE ratio of 32.98, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.02 and a beta of 0.72. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15, a quick ratio of 0.03 and a current ratio of 0.02.

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

Equity LifeStyle Properties Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, April 11th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 28th were issued a dividend of $0.515 per share. This represents a $2.06 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.20%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, March 28th. This is a boost from Equity LifeStyle Properties's previous quarterly dividend of $0.48. Equity LifeStyle Properties's payout ratio is currently 105.64%.

About Equity LifeStyle Properties

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.