Equity LifeStyle Properties, Inc. (NYSE:ELS) Given Average Rating of “Moderate Buy” by Brokerages

Shares of Equity LifeStyle Properties, Inc. (NYSE:ELS) have been assigned a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” from the eleven ratings firms that are covering the company, MarketBeat reports. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating on the company. The average twelve-month price objective among brokers that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $73.90.

Several brokerages recently weighed in on ELS. Robert W. Baird raised their target price on Equity LifeStyle Properties from $72.00 to $73.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 28th. Royal Bank of Canada reduced 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 report on Wednesday, January 29th. Jefferies Financial Group upgraded shares of Equity LifeStyle Properties from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their target price for the stock from $72.00 to $80.00 in a report on Thursday, January 2nd. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised shares of Equity LifeStyle Properties from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their target price for the company from $66.00 to $73.00 in a research note on Tuesday, January 21st. Finally, Truist Financial upgraded shares of Equity LifeStyle Properties from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, January 17th.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of ELS. National Pension Service acquired a new stake in Equity LifeStyle Properties during the 4th quarter worth about $25,000. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Equity LifeStyle Properties in the fourth quarter worth approximately $30,000. Board of the Pension Protection Fund acquired a new stake in shares of Equity LifeStyle Properties during the fourth quarter worth approximately $33,000. UMB Bank n.a. grew its position in Equity LifeStyle Properties by 356.4% during the third quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 534 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $38,000 after purchasing an additional 417 shares in the last quarter. Finally, MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB increased its stake in Equity LifeStyle Properties by 43.5% in the 4th quarter. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB now owns 564 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $38,000 after buying an additional 171 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 97.21% of the company’s stock.

Equity LifeStyle Properties Stock Up 0.6 %

ELS stock opened at $66.38 on Friday. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $67.09 and its two-hundred day moving average is $69.44. The company has a market capitalization of $12.68 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 34.04, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.78 and a beta of 0.79. Equity LifeStyle Properties has a 52 week low of $59.82 and a 52 week high of $76.60. The company has a current ratio of 0.02, a quick ratio of 0.03 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15.

Equity LifeStyle Properties (NYSE:ELS) last released its earnings results on Monday, January 27th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.76 earnings per share for the quarter, hitting analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.76. Equity LifeStyle Properties had a return on equity of 23.12% and a net margin of 24.05%. On average, analysts forecast that Equity LifeStyle Properties will post 3.1 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Equity LifeStyle Properties Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, April 11th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 28th will be paid a dividend of $0.515 per share. This is an increase from Equity LifeStyle Properties’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.48. This represents a $2.06 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.10%. Equity LifeStyle Properties’s payout ratio is 97.95%.

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.