Swiss National Bank Decreases Stock Position in Equity LifeStyle Properties, Inc. (NYSE:ELS)

Swiss National Bank lessened its stake in Equity LifeStyle Properties, Inc. (NYSE:ELS) by 4.6% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 500,500 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after selling 24,100 shares during the quarter. Swiss National Bank owned about 0.26% of Equity LifeStyle Properties worth $33,333,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of ELS. Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. purchased a new position in Equity LifeStyle Properties in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $599,000. KBC Group NV boosted its holdings in Equity LifeStyle Properties by 518.6% in the 3rd quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 165,518 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $11,808,000 after acquiring an additional 138,759 shares during the period. Metis Global Partners LLC boosted its holdings in Equity LifeStyle Properties by 26.6% in the 3rd quarter. Metis Global Partners LLC now owns 21,447 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $1,530,000 after acquiring an additional 4,505 shares during the period. CIBC Asset Management Inc boosted its holdings in Equity LifeStyle Properties by 5.5% in the 3rd quarter. CIBC Asset Management Inc now owns 6,591 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $470,000 after acquiring an additional 345 shares during the period. Finally, Natixis Advisors LLC raised its position in shares of Equity LifeStyle Properties by 3.0% in the 3rd quarter. Natixis Advisors LLC now owns 26,676 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $1,903,000 after purchasing an additional 775 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 97.21% of the company’s stock.

Equity LifeStyle Properties Stock Performance

ELS stock opened at $67.04 on Monday. The company has a current ratio of 0.02, a quick ratio of 0.03 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15. The firm has a market cap of $12.81 billion, a P/E ratio of 34.38, a P/E/G ratio of 3.02 and a beta of 0.79. Equity LifeStyle Properties, Inc. has a 12-month low of $59.82 and a 12-month high of $76.60. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $66.53 and its 200 day simple moving average is $68.93.

Equity LifeStyle Properties (NYSE:ELS) last issued its earnings results on Monday, January 27th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.76 earnings per share for the quarter, hitting 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, equities research analysts predict that Equity LifeStyle Properties, Inc. will post 3.07 EPS for the current year.

Equity LifeStyle Properties Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, April 11th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 28th will be given a $0.515 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 28th. This is a positive change from Equity LifeStyle Properties’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.48. This represents a $2.06 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.07%. Equity LifeStyle Properties’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 105.64%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have issued reports on ELS. Royal Bank of Canada cut their target price on Equity LifeStyle Properties from $69.00 to $68.00 and set a “sector perform” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, January 29th. Jefferies Financial Group raised Equity LifeStyle Properties from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their target price for the company from $72.00 to $80.00 in a research report on Thursday, January 2nd. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised Equity LifeStyle Properties from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their target price for the company from $66.00 to $73.00 in a research report on Tuesday, January 21st. Robert W. Baird upped their target price on Equity LifeStyle Properties from $72.00 to $73.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 28th. Finally, Evercore ISI cut their target price on Equity LifeStyle Properties from $74.00 to $73.00 and set an “in-line” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, January 28th. Three 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 stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Equity LifeStyle Properties presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price 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.