Bank of Montreal Can Buys 66,685 Shares of Equity LifeStyle Properties, Inc. (NYSE:ELS)

Bank of Montreal Can boosted its holdings in Equity LifeStyle Properties, Inc. (NYSE:ELS) by 9.6% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 759,875 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after acquiring an additional 66,685 shares during the quarter. Bank of Montreal Can’s holdings in Equity LifeStyle Properties were worth $50,608,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in ELS. Jane Street Group LLC increased its stake in Equity LifeStyle Properties by 267.9% in the third quarter. Jane Street Group LLC now owns 232,698 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $16,601,000 after acquiring an additional 169,445 shares during the period. EP Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Equity LifeStyle Properties in the third quarter valued at about $387,000. iA Global Asset Management Inc. bought a new stake in Equity LifeStyle Properties in the third quarter valued at about $253,000. MML Investors Services LLC increased its stake in Equity LifeStyle Properties by 10.4% in the third quarter. MML Investors Services LLC now owns 8,202 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $585,000 after acquiring an additional 770 shares during the period. Finally, Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd increased its stake in Equity LifeStyle Properties by 213.9% in the third quarter. Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd now owns 18,277 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $1,304,000 after acquiring an additional 12,454 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 97.21% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts recently weighed in on ELS shares. BMO Capital Markets raised shares of Equity LifeStyle Properties from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $78.00 target price on the stock in a research note on Friday, April 4th. Royal Bank of Canada reduced their price target 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. Evercore ISI reduced their price target 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. Jefferies Financial Group began coverage on shares of Equity LifeStyle Properties in a research report on Tuesday. They issued a “buy” rating and a $80.00 price target on the stock. Finally, Truist Financial upgraded shares of Equity LifeStyle Properties from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, January 17th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $74.20.

Equity LifeStyle Properties Price Performance

Shares of ELS stock opened at $63.92 on Thursday. Equity LifeStyle Properties, Inc. has a 1 year low of $58.86 and a 1 year high of $76.60. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $66.63 and its 200-day moving average is $67.97. The firm has a market capitalization of $12.22 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 32.78, a PEG ratio of 3.02 and a beta of 0.72. The company has a current ratio of 0.02, a quick ratio of 0.03 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15.

Equity LifeStyle Properties (NYSE:ELS) last announced its earnings results on Monday, January 27th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.76 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, hitting analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.76. Equity LifeStyle Properties had a net margin of 24.05% and a return on equity of 23.12%. Sell-side analysts forecast 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. Investors of record on Friday, March 28th will be issued a $0.515 dividend. This is a positive change from Equity LifeStyle Properties’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.48. This represents a $2.06 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.22%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 28th. Equity LifeStyle Properties’s dividend payout ratio 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.