Employees Retirement System of Texas Grows Holdings in Equity LifeStyle Properties, Inc. (NYSE:ELS)

Employees Retirement System of Texas raised its holdings in shares of Equity LifeStyle Properties, Inc. (NYSE:ELS) by 1.6% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 127,272 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after purchasing an additional 2,000 shares during the quarter. Employees Retirement System of Texas owned 0.07% of Equity LifeStyle Properties worth $8,476,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in ELS. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. bought a new stake in Equity LifeStyle Properties during the 3rd quarter valued at about $559,000. Investment Management Corp of Ontario boosted its holdings in shares of Equity LifeStyle Properties by 48.2% in the third quarter. Investment Management Corp of Ontario now owns 5,841 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $417,000 after purchasing an additional 1,900 shares during the period. Quarry LP grew its stake in Equity LifeStyle Properties by 228.8% in the third quarter. Quarry LP now owns 1,519 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $108,000 after purchasing an additional 1,057 shares in the last quarter. Kovitz Investment Group Partners LLC increased its holdings in Equity LifeStyle Properties by 130.4% during the 3rd quarter. Kovitz Investment Group Partners LLC now owns 61,390 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $4,380,000 after purchasing an additional 34,741 shares during the period. Finally, Jane Street Group LLC raised its position in Equity LifeStyle Properties by 267.9% during the 3rd quarter. Jane Street Group LLC now owns 232,698 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $16,601,000 after purchasing an additional 169,445 shares in the last quarter. 97.21% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Equity LifeStyle Properties Stock Performance

Shares of ELS opened at $65.94 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 $12.60 billion, a PE ratio of 33.82, a P/E/G ratio of 3.02 and a beta of 0.72. Equity LifeStyle Properties, Inc. has a 12 month low of $59.82 and a 12 month high of $76.60. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $66.98 and a 200-day moving average price of $68.25.

Equity LifeStyle Properties (NYSE:ELS) last released its quarterly earnings results on Monday, January 27th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.76 EPS for the quarter, meeting analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.76. Equity LifeStyle Properties had a return on equity of 23.12% and a net margin of 24.05%. Equities research analysts predict that Equity LifeStyle Properties, Inc. will post 3.07 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Equity LifeStyle Properties Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, April 11th. Investors of record on Friday, March 28th will be paid a $0.515 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend 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 yield of 3.12%. Equity LifeStyle Properties’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 105.64%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts have recently issued reports on the company. BMO Capital Markets raised Equity LifeStyle Properties from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $78.00 price target on the stock in a research report on Friday. Royal Bank of Canada lowered their price objective on shares of Equity LifeStyle Properties from $69.00 to $68.00 and set a “sector perform” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, January 29th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upgraded shares of Equity LifeStyle Properties from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their target price for the stock from $66.00 to $73.00 in a report on Tuesday, January 21st. Truist Financial upgraded shares of Equity LifeStyle Properties from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, January 17th. Finally, Robert W. Baird increased their price objective on shares of Equity LifeStyle Properties from $72.00 to $73.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 28th. Three investment 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 company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Equity LifeStyle Properties currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $74.20.

Equity LifeStyle Properties Company Profile

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.