Equity LifeStyle Properties (NYSE:ELS) Upgraded to “Buy” at Truist Financial

Truist Financial upgraded shares of Equity LifeStyle Properties (NYSE:ELS) from a hold rating to a buy rating in a research note released on Friday, MarketBeat.com reports.

Several other equities analysts also recently commented on ELS. Jefferies Financial Group upgraded Equity LifeStyle Properties from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their price objective for the company from $72.00 to $80.00 in a research note on Thursday, January 2nd. Compass Point upped their price target on Equity LifeStyle Properties from $70.00 to $72.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Robert W. Baird lifted their price objective on Equity LifeStyle Properties from $71.00 to $72.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 22nd. UBS Group raised shares of Equity LifeStyle Properties to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Thursday, October 10th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company upgraded shares of Equity LifeStyle Properties from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and lifted their target price for the stock from $70.50 to $82.00 in a research note on Thursday, September 19th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, six have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $73.30.

Equity LifeStyle Properties Stock Up 0.5 %

Shares of NYSE:ELS opened at $66.52 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $12.71 billion, a PE ratio of 34.29, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.21 and a beta of 0.79. Equity LifeStyle Properties has a 1 year low of $59.82 and a 1 year high of $76.60. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.35, a current ratio of 0.03 and a quick ratio of 0.03. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $68.54 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $69.38.

Equity LifeStyle Properties (NYSE:ELS) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Monday, October 21st. The real estate investment trust reported $0.44 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates 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 return on equity of 24.10% and a net margin of 23.97%. The business’s quarterly revenue was down .4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $0.71 EPS. Analysts forecast that Equity LifeStyle Properties will post 2.92 earnings per share for the current year.

Equity LifeStyle Properties Cuts Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, January 10th. Stockholders of record on Friday, December 27th were issued a $0.477 dividend. This represents a $1.91 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.87%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, December 27th. Equity LifeStyle Properties’s payout ratio is 98.45%.

Institutional Trading of Equity LifeStyle Properties

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Seven Post Investment Office LP grew its position in shares of Equity LifeStyle Properties by 0.7% during the 4th quarter. Seven Post Investment Office LP now owns 188,798 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $12,574,000 after purchasing an additional 1,344 shares in the last quarter. Aurora Investment Managers LLC. boosted its stake in Equity LifeStyle Properties by 8.6% during the fourth quarter. Aurora Investment Managers LLC. now owns 52,137 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $3,472,000 after buying an additional 4,139 shares during the period. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB grew its position in 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 buying an additional 171 shares in the last quarter. UMB Bank n.a. increased its stake in Equity LifeStyle Properties by 68.2% in the 4th quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 898 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $60,000 after acquiring an additional 364 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Avanza Fonder AB purchased a new stake in shares of Equity LifeStyle Properties in the 4th quarter valued at about $917,000. Institutional investors own 97.21% of the company’s stock.

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.