5,712 Shares in Equity LifeStyle Properties, Inc. (NYSE:ELS) Acquired by Empowered Funds LLC

Empowered Funds LLC acquired a new stake in Equity LifeStyle Properties, Inc. (NYSE:ELS) during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund acquired 5,712 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock, valued at approximately $380,000.

A number of other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Townsquare Capital LLC boosted its stake in shares of Equity LifeStyle Properties by 23.7% during the 3rd quarter. Townsquare Capital LLC now owns 12,835 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $916,000 after purchasing an additional 2,458 shares in the last quarter. Vert Asset Management LLC lifted its position in Equity LifeStyle Properties by 9.8% during the 4th quarter. Vert Asset Management LLC now owns 79,516 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $5,296,000 after acquiring an additional 7,092 shares during the period. Victory Capital Management Inc. boosted its stake in Equity LifeStyle Properties by 0.9% during the third quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 4,649,670 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $331,707,000 after acquiring an additional 39,864 shares in the last quarter. Citigroup Inc. grew its holdings in Equity LifeStyle Properties by 16.7% in the third quarter. Citigroup Inc. now owns 213,209 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $15,210,000 after purchasing an additional 30,489 shares during the period. Finally, Nordea Investment Management AB increased its stake in shares of Equity LifeStyle Properties by 6.4% during the fourth quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 21,574 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $1,432,000 after purchasing an additional 1,301 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 97.21% of the company’s stock.

Equity LifeStyle Properties Price Performance

NYSE ELS opened at $66.21 on Friday. 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 capitalization of $12.65 billion, a P/E ratio of 33.95, a PEG ratio of 2.98 and a beta of 0.79. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $66.34 and a 200-day moving average price of $69.30. Equity LifeStyle Properties, Inc. has a 52 week low of $59.82 and a 52 week high of $76.60.

Equity LifeStyle Properties (NYSE:ELS) last announced its 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 net margin of 24.05% and a return on equity of 23.12%. Equities research analysts anticipate that Equity LifeStyle Properties, Inc. will post 3.07 earnings per share 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. Investors of record on Friday, March 28th will be given a dividend of $0.515 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 28th. 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 3.11%. Equity LifeStyle Properties’s payout ratio is 97.95%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts have recently commented on ELS shares. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised 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 report on Tuesday, January 21st. Robert W. Baird increased their target price on Equity LifeStyle Properties from $72.00 to $73.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 28th. Evercore ISI lowered their price target on Equity LifeStyle Properties from $74.00 to $73.00 and set an “in-line” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, January 28th. Truist Financial raised Equity LifeStyle Properties from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, January 17th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada decreased their target price on 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. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, six have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average 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.