Lecap Asset Management Ltd. Raises Holdings in Equity LifeStyle Properties, Inc. (NYSE:ELS)

Lecap Asset Management Ltd. lifted its stake in Equity LifeStyle Properties, Inc. (NYSE:ELS) by 185.8% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 24,882 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after purchasing an additional 16,176 shares during the quarter. Lecap Asset Management Ltd.’s holdings in Equity LifeStyle Properties were worth $1,657,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Equity LifeStyle Properties in the fourth quarter worth $30,000. Board of the Pension Protection Fund acquired a new position in shares of Equity LifeStyle Properties in the 4th quarter valued at $33,000. UMB Bank n.a. raised its stake in Equity LifeStyle Properties by 356.4% in the 3rd quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 534 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $38,000 after acquiring an additional 417 shares during the last quarter. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB raised 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 worth $38,000 after acquiring an additional 171 shares during the last quarter. Finally, V Square Quantitative Management LLC lifted its position in Equity LifeStyle Properties by 31.3% during 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 during the period. 97.21% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

ELS has been the topic of a number of research reports. Royal Bank of Canada cut their price objective on Equity LifeStyle Properties from $69.00 to $68.00 and set a “sector perform” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, January 29th. Compass Point raised 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. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upgraded shares of Equity LifeStyle Properties from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their price objective for the company from $66.00 to $73.00 in a research note on Tuesday, January 21st. Evercore ISI cut their price objective on shares of Equity LifeStyle Properties from $74.00 to $73.00 and set an “in-line” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, January 28th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group upgraded shares of Equity LifeStyle Properties from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their target price for the company from $72.00 to $80.00 in a research report on Thursday, January 2nd. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $73.90.

Equity LifeStyle Properties Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE ELS opened at $66.38 on Friday. Equity LifeStyle Properties, Inc. has a 1 year low of $59.82 and a 1 year high of $76.60. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15, a quick ratio of 0.03 and a current ratio of 0.02. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $67.09 and its 200 day moving average price is $69.44. The company has a market capitalization of $12.68 billion, a PE ratio of 34.04, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.78 and a beta of 0.79.

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

Equity LifeStyle Properties Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, April 11th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 28th will be given a $0.515 dividend. 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 dividend yield of 3.10%. Equity LifeStyle Properties’s payout ratio is 97.95%.

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.