Equity LifeStyle Properties, Inc. (NYSE:ELS) Given Consensus Recommendation of “Moderate Buy” by Analysts

Equity LifeStyle Properties, Inc. (NYSE:ELS) has received a consensus recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the ten brokerages that are currently covering the firm, Marketbeat.com reports. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, six have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. The average 12 month target price among brokers that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $73.78.

A number of 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 on the stock in a report on Wednesday, January 29th. Robert W. Baird upped their target price on shares of Equity LifeStyle Properties from $72.00 to $73.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 28th. Evercore ISI decreased their target price on shares of Equity LifeStyle Properties from $74.00 to $73.00 and set an “in-line” rating on the stock 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 boosted their price target for the stock from $66.00 to $73.00 in a research note on Tuesday, January 21st. Finally, Truist Financial raised shares of Equity LifeStyle Properties from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, January 17th.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Equity LifeStyle Properties

A number of institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Equity LifeStyle Properties by 1.6% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 25,053,845 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $1,668,586,000 after purchasing an additional 388,888 shares in the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. raised its holdings 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 valued at $404,319,000 after buying an additional 3,838,809 shares during the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised its holdings in 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 valued at $339,713,000 after buying an additional 147,332 shares during the last quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. raised its holdings in Equity LifeStyle Properties by 0.9% during the 3rd quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 4,649,670 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $331,707,000 after buying an additional 39,864 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Invesco Ltd. raised its holdings in Equity LifeStyle Properties by 592.7% during the 4th quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 3,918,241 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $260,955,000 after buying an additional 3,352,584 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 97.21% of the company’s stock.

Equity LifeStyle Properties Stock Performance

NYSE ELS opened at $68.56 on Tuesday. The company’s 50 day moving average is $66.48 and its 200-day moving average is $69.07. Equity LifeStyle Properties has a 12-month low of $59.82 and a 12-month high of $76.60. The company has a quick ratio of 0.03, a current ratio of 0.02 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15. The firm has a market cap of $13.10 billion, a P/E ratio of 35.16, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.02 and a beta of 0.79.

Equity LifeStyle Properties (NYSE:ELS) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Monday, January 27th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.76 earnings per share (EPS) 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%. Sell-side analysts predict that Equity LifeStyle Properties will post 3.07 earnings per share for the current year.

Equity LifeStyle Properties Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed 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 is a boost from Equity LifeStyle Properties’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.48. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 28th. This represents a $2.06 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.00%. Equity LifeStyle Properties’s dividend payout ratio is 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.