2,450,627 Shares in Equity LifeStyle Properties, Inc. (NYSE:ELS) Acquired by Norges Bank

Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of Equity LifeStyle Properties, Inc. (NYSE:ELS) in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund bought 2,450,627 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock, valued at approximately $163,212,000. Norges Bank owned approximately 1.28% of Equity LifeStyle Properties as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company lifted its position in shares of Equity LifeStyle Properties by 13.2% in the 3rd quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 165,021 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $11,773,000 after purchasing an additional 19,282 shares during the period. D.A. Davidson & CO. bought a new stake in Equity LifeStyle Properties during the 3rd quarter valued at $256,000. BNP Paribas Financial Markets boosted its position in Equity LifeStyle Properties by 3.4% during the 3rd quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 186,298 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $13,290,000 after acquiring an additional 6,076 shares in the last quarter. Townsquare Capital LLC lifted its holdings 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 during the last quarter. Finally, Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank boosted its position in shares of Equity LifeStyle Properties by 3.9% in the 3rd quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank now owns 74,606 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $5,322,000 after purchasing an additional 2,767 shares in the last quarter. 97.21% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have commented on the company. Royal Bank of Canada decreased their price target on Equity LifeStyle Properties from $69.00 to $68.00 and set a “sector perform” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, January 29th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised shares of Equity LifeStyle Properties from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their price objective for the company from $66.00 to $73.00 in a research report on Tuesday, January 21st. Evercore ISI dropped their target price on shares of Equity LifeStyle Properties from $74.00 to $73.00 and set an “in-line” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, January 28th. Truist Financial raised shares of Equity LifeStyle Properties from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, January 17th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group raised shares of Equity LifeStyle Properties from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their price objective for the company from $72.00 to $80.00 in a report on Thursday, January 2nd. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, six have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $73.78.

Equity LifeStyle Properties Stock Up 0.4 %

ELS stock opened at $66.70 on Tuesday. The company has a market capitalization of $12.75 billion, a P/E ratio of 34.21, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.02 and a beta of 0.79. Equity LifeStyle Properties, Inc. has a 12 month low of $59.82 and a 12 month high of $76.60. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $66.97 and its 200-day simple moving average is $68.47. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15, a current ratio of 0.02 and a quick ratio of 0.03.

Equity LifeStyle Properties (NYSE:ELS) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Monday, January 27th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.76 EPS for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate of $0.76. Equity LifeStyle Properties had a net margin of 24.05% and a return on equity of 23.12%. As a group, equities research analysts forecast 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 declared 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. This is a boost from Equity LifeStyle Properties’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.48. This represents a $2.06 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.09%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 28th. Equity LifeStyle Properties’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 105.64%.

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.