Equity LifeStyle Properties, Inc. (NYSE:ELS) Shares Sold by Aew Capital Management L P

Aew Capital Management L P reduced its position in shares of Equity LifeStyle Properties, Inc. (NYSE:ELS) by 2.4% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 156,223 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after selling 3,770 shares during the period. Aew Capital Management L P’s holdings in Equity LifeStyle Properties were worth $10,404,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Principal Financial Group Inc. grew its stake in shares of Equity LifeStyle Properties by 172.0% in the 4th quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 6,070,817 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $404,319,000 after buying an additional 3,838,809 shares during the period. JPMorgan Chase & Co. grew its position in Equity LifeStyle Properties by 3.2% in the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 4,761,879 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $339,713,000 after acquiring an additional 147,332 shares during the period. Victory Capital Management Inc. increased 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 during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its position in Equity LifeStyle Properties by 1.7% in the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 3,833,596 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $273,014,000 after purchasing an additional 65,191 shares during the period. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Equity LifeStyle Properties by 3.7% in the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 2,441,191 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $174,155,000 after purchasing an additional 87,609 shares during the last quarter. 97.21% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on ELS. Jefferies Financial Group raised Equity LifeStyle Properties from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their price objective for the stock from $72.00 to $80.00 in a research report on Thursday, January 2nd. Royal Bank of Canada dropped their target price on shares of Equity LifeStyle Properties from $69.00 to $68.00 and set a “sector perform” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, January 29th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upgraded Equity LifeStyle Properties from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their price target for the stock from $66.00 to $73.00 in a research note on Tuesday, January 21st. Evercore ISI dropped their price objective on Equity LifeStyle Properties from $74.00 to $73.00 and set an “in-line” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, January 28th. Finally, 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. Three equities research 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 stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $73.78.

Equity LifeStyle Properties Stock Up 0.4 %

ELS stock opened at $68.59 on Friday. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $66.33 and its 200 day moving average price is $69.17. The firm has a market capitalization of $13.10 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 35.17, a PEG ratio of 3.02 and a beta of 0.79. Equity LifeStyle Properties, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $59.82 and a fifty-two week 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.

Equity LifeStyle Properties (NYSE:ELS) last announced 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%. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Equity LifeStyle Properties, Inc. will post 3.07 EPS 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 $0.515 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 28th. This represents a $2.06 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.00%. This is an increase from Equity LifeStyle Properties’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.48. Equity LifeStyle Properties’s dividend payout ratio is presently 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.