Equity Lifestyle Properties, Inc. $ELS Stock Holdings Lowered by IFM Investors Pty Ltd

IFM Investors Pty Ltd lessened its position in Equity Lifestyle Properties, Inc. (NYSE:ELS) by 53.2% during the first quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 31,477 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after selling 35,714 shares during the quarter. IFM Investors Pty Ltd’s holdings in Equity Lifestyle Properties were worth $1,965,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its stake in Equity Lifestyle Properties by 2.4% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 25,477,480 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $1,544,190,000 after purchasing an additional 592,013 shares during the period. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD grew its position in Equity Lifestyle Properties by 303.9% in the 4th quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 15,948,613 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $966,648,000 after purchasing an additional 11,999,874 shares during the last quarter. Cohen & Steers Inc. increased its stake in shares of Equity Lifestyle Properties by 26.8% in the fourth quarter. Cohen & Steers Inc. now owns 10,614,040 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $643,331,000 after purchasing an additional 2,246,622 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Equity Lifestyle Properties by 2.2% in the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 4,712,562 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $285,048,000 after purchasing an additional 100,364 shares during the period. Finally, Daiwa Securities Group Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Equity Lifestyle Properties by 16.2% during the fourth quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. now owns 3,656,490 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $221,619,000 after buying an additional 509,442 shares during the last quarter. 97.21% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages have recently issued reports on ELS. Jefferies Financial Group upgraded Equity Lifestyle Properties to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Friday, June 26th. Robert W. Baird raised their target price on Equity Lifestyle Properties from $73.00 to $74.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 22nd. Wells Fargo & Company cut their target price on Equity Lifestyle Properties from $70.00 to $69.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, June 1st. Zelman & Associates initiated coverage on Equity Lifestyle Properties in a research report on Monday, March 16th. They set an “underperform” rating and a $59.25 price target for the company. Finally, Weiss Ratings upgraded Equity Lifestyle Properties from a “hold (c)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a research report on Thursday. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nine have issued a Buy rating, six have issued a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $69.20.

Equity Lifestyle Properties Price Performance

Shares of NYSE ELS opened at $66.17 on Friday. Equity Lifestyle Properties, Inc. has a twelve month low of $58.15 and a twelve month high of $69.00. The company has a current ratio of 0.04, a quick ratio of 0.04 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29. The company has a market capitalization of $12.83 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 33.09, a PEG ratio of 4.03 and a beta of 0.66. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $63.09 and a two-hundred day moving average of $63.81.

Equity Lifestyle Properties (NYSE:ELS) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 22nd. The real estate investment trust reported $0.56 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.84 by ($0.28). The business had revenue of $397.62 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $395.71 million. Equity Lifestyle Properties had a return on equity of 21.22% and a net margin of 24.99%.The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 2.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $0.57 EPS. As a group, analysts expect that Equity Lifestyle Properties, Inc. will post 3.18 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Equity Lifestyle Properties Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, July 10th. Investors of record on Friday, June 26th will be issued a dividend of $0.5425 per share. This represents a $2.17 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.3%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, June 26th. Equity Lifestyle Properties’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 108.50%.

Equity Lifestyle Properties Profile

Equity Lifestyle Properties, Inc (NYSE: ELS) is a publicly traded real estate investment trust specializing in the acquisition, development, ownership and operation of manufactured home communities and recreational vehicle resorts. The company’s portfolio includes more than 450 properties across the United States and Canada, serving over 200,000 residents and visitors. ELS organizes its operations into two primary segments: manufactured housing communities, which provide long-term housing solutions, and upscale RV and seasonal resorts designed for leisure travelers and seasonal patrons.

In its manufactured home division, ELS offers home-site leases combined with community amenities such as landscaped common areas, clubhouses, swimming pools and organized resident events.