Equity LifeStyle Properties (NYSE:ELS) Upgraded to Buy at Jefferies Financial Group

Jefferies Financial Group upgraded shares of Equity LifeStyle Properties (NYSE:ELS) from a hold rating to a buy rating in a report issued on Thursday, Marketbeat.com reports. They currently have $80.00 price target on the real estate investment trust’s stock, up from their previous price target of $72.00.

Other equities analysts have also recently issued reports about the company. UBS Group upgraded Equity LifeStyle Properties to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 10th. Robert W. Baird lifted their target price on Equity LifeStyle Properties from $71.00 to $72.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 22nd. Compass Point boosted their price target on shares of Equity LifeStyle Properties from $70.00 to $72.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Truist Financial raised their price objective on shares of Equity LifeStyle Properties from $70.00 to $71.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 12th. Finally, Evercore ISI boosted their target price on shares of Equity LifeStyle Properties from $76.00 to $77.00 and gave the stock an “in-line” rating in a report on Monday, October 21st. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, five have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Equity LifeStyle Properties has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $73.30.

Equity LifeStyle Properties Price Performance

Shares of NYSE ELS opened at $66.65 on Thursday. The stock has a market cap of $12.73 billion, a P/E ratio of 34.36, a P/E/G ratio of 3.61 and a beta of 0.77. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $69.42 and its 200 day simple moving average is $69.26. Equity LifeStyle Properties has a fifty-two week low of $59.82 and a fifty-two week high of $76.60. The company has a quick ratio of 0.03, a current ratio of 0.03 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.35.

Equity LifeStyle Properties (NYSE:ELS) last released its earnings results on Monday, October 21st. The real estate investment trust reported $0.44 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.72 by ($0.28). The company had revenue of $387.30 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $315.78 million. Equity LifeStyle Properties had a net margin of 23.97% and a return on equity of 24.10%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down .4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $0.71 EPS. Equities analysts expect that Equity LifeStyle Properties will post 2.92 EPS for the current year.

Equity LifeStyle Properties Cuts Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, January 10th. Investors of record on Friday, December 27th will be given a $0.477 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, December 27th. This represents a $1.91 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.86%. Equity LifeStyle Properties’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 98.45%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Equity LifeStyle Properties

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Moran Wealth Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Equity LifeStyle Properties by 0.8% in the third quarter. Moran Wealth Management LLC now owns 17,721 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $1,264,000 after buying an additional 143 shares during the period. V Square Quantitative Management LLC lifted its stake in Equity LifeStyle Properties by 31.3% in the 3rd quarter. V Square Quantitative Management LLC now owns 613 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $44,000 after acquiring an additional 146 shares in the last quarter. Johnson Investment Counsel Inc. boosted its position in Equity LifeStyle Properties by 0.6% during the 2nd quarter. Johnson Investment Counsel Inc. now owns 26,792 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $1,745,000 after acquiring an additional 152 shares during the period. Toronto Dominion Bank grew its stake in Equity LifeStyle Properties by 0.9% during the 2nd quarter. Toronto Dominion Bank now owns 16,974 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $1,106,000 after acquiring an additional 154 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Point72 Asia Singapore Pte. Ltd. grew its stake in Equity LifeStyle Properties by 14.7% during the 3rd quarter. Point72 Asia Singapore Pte. Ltd. now owns 2,093 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $149,000 after acquiring an additional 269 shares in the last quarter. 97.21% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Equity LifeStyle Properties Company Profile

We are a self-administered, self-managed real estate investment trust (REIT) with headquarters in Chicago. As of January 29, 2024, we own or have an interest in 451 properties in 35 states and British Columbia consisting of 172,465 sites.