Vanguard Group Inc. Buys 388,888 Shares of Equity LifeStyle Properties, Inc. (NYSE:ELS)

Vanguard Group Inc. grew its position in Equity LifeStyle Properties, Inc. (NYSE:ELS - Free Report) by 1.6% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 25,053,845 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock after purchasing an additional 388,888 shares during the quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. owned approximately 13.11% of Equity LifeStyle Properties worth $1,668,586,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of ELS. National Pension Service bought a new position in Equity LifeStyle Properties in the 4th quarter worth $25,000. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. bought a new position in shares of Equity LifeStyle Properties in the fourth quarter worth about $30,000. Board of the Pension Protection Fund bought a new position in shares of Equity LifeStyle Properties in the fourth quarter worth about $33,000. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB grew its position in shares of Equity LifeStyle Properties by 43.5% during the fourth quarter. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB now owns 564 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $38,000 after purchasing an additional 171 shares in the last quarter. Finally, UMB Bank n.a. raised its stake 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. 97.21% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Equity LifeStyle Properties Trading Up 0.4 %

ELS stock traded up $0.27 during midday trading on Monday, reaching $66.70. 1,693,639 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,283,274. The firm has a market capitalization of $12.75 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 34.21, a P/E/G ratio of 3.02 and a beta of 0.79. Equity LifeStyle Properties, Inc. has a 52-week low of $59.82 and a 52-week high of $76.60. The business has a 50 day moving average of $66.97 and a 200-day moving average of $68.47. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15, a quick ratio of 0.03 and a current ratio of 0.02.

Remove Ads

Equity LifeStyle Properties (NYSE:ELS - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results 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 return on equity of 23.12% and a net margin of 24.05%. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Equity LifeStyle Properties, Inc. will post 3.07 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Equity LifeStyle Properties Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, April 11th. Investors of record on Friday, March 28th will be paid a dividend of $0.515 per share. The ex-dividend date is 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 dividend yield of 3.09%. Equity LifeStyle Properties's payout ratio is currently 105.64%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have issued reports on ELS. Evercore ISI cut their price objective on shares of 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. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised shares of Equity LifeStyle Properties from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and raised their target price 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 on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, January 29th. Jefferies Financial Group upgraded Equity LifeStyle Properties from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and raised their price objective for the company from $72.00 to $80.00 in a research report on Thursday, January 2nd. Finally, Truist Financial upgraded Equity LifeStyle Properties from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday, January 17th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, six have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $73.78.

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.