Handelsbanken Fonder AB Lowers Stock Position in Equity LifeStyle Properties, Inc. (NYSE:ELS)

Handelsbanken Fonder AB trimmed its holdings in shares of Equity LifeStyle Properties, Inc. (NYSE:ELS) by 13.6% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 43,118 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after selling 6,800 shares during the period. Handelsbanken Fonder AB’s holdings in Equity LifeStyle Properties were worth $2,872,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors have also modified their holdings of the business. Creative Planning grew its holdings in Equity LifeStyle Properties by 37.3% during the third quarter. Creative Planning now owns 6,715 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $479,000 after acquiring an additional 1,824 shares during the period. Blue Trust Inc. boosted its position in shares of Equity LifeStyle Properties by 106.7% during the 3rd quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 1,292 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $84,000 after purchasing an additional 667 shares in the last quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. grew its stake in shares of Equity LifeStyle Properties by 119.9% during the 3rd quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 23,204 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $1,642,000 after purchasing an additional 12,651 shares during the period. State of Alaska Department of Revenue increased its holdings in shares of Equity LifeStyle Properties by 0.3% in the 3rd quarter. State of Alaska Department of Revenue now owns 131,231 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $9,360,000 after purchasing an additional 438 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Financial Advocates Investment Management lifted its stake in shares of Equity LifeStyle Properties by 5.5% in the third quarter. Financial Advocates Investment Management now owns 6,248 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $446,000 after purchasing an additional 327 shares during the period. 97.21% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages have weighed in on ELS. Royal Bank of Canada lowered their target price on shares of Equity LifeStyle Properties from $69.00 to $68.00 and set a “sector perform” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, January 29th. Truist Financial raised Equity LifeStyle Properties from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, January 17th. Evercore ISI lowered their target price on Equity LifeStyle Properties from $74.00 to $73.00 and set an “in-line” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, January 28th. Robert W. Baird raised their price target on Equity LifeStyle Properties from $72.00 to $73.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report 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 price objective for the stock from $72.00 to $80.00 in a research report on Thursday, January 2nd. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, six have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Equity LifeStyle Properties has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $73.78.

Equity LifeStyle Properties Trading Up 1.4 %

Shares of ELS stock opened at $66.96 on Tuesday. The company has a market capitalization of $12.79 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 34.34, a PEG ratio of 3.02 and a beta of 0.79. The company has a current ratio of 0.02, a quick ratio of 0.03 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $66.28 and a 200 day moving average price of $69.21. Equity LifeStyle Properties, Inc. has a twelve month low of $59.82 and a twelve month high of $76.60.

Equity LifeStyle Properties (NYSE:ELS) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Monday, January 27th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.76 earnings per share 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%. Research analysts forecast that Equity LifeStyle Properties, Inc. will post 3.07 earnings per share for the current fiscal 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 issued a dividend of $0.515 per share. This is a boost from Equity LifeStyle Properties’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.48. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 28th. This represents a $2.06 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.08%. Equity LifeStyle Properties’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 105.64%.

Equity LifeStyle Properties 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.