Cohen & Steers Inc. Lowers Holdings in Equity LifeStyle Properties, Inc. (NYSE:ELS)

Cohen & Steers Inc. lowered its stake in shares of Equity LifeStyle Properties, Inc. (NYSE:ELS) by 11.0% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 6,679,991 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after selling 827,427 shares during the period. Equity LifeStyle Properties comprises about 0.8% of Cohen & Steers Inc.’s portfolio, making the stock its 28th largest holding. Cohen & Steers Inc.’s holdings in Equity LifeStyle Properties were worth $444,862,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its holdings in Equity LifeStyle Properties by 1.6% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 25,053,845 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $1,668,586,000 after acquiring an additional 388,888 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc. boosted its position in 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 worth $404,319,000 after purchasing an additional 3,838,809 shares in the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. grew its stake in shares of Equity LifeStyle Properties by 3.2% during the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 4,761,879 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $339,713,000 after purchasing an additional 147,332 shares during the period. Invesco Ltd. increased its holdings in shares of Equity LifeStyle Properties by 592.7% during the 4th quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 3,918,241 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $260,955,000 after purchasing an additional 3,352,584 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Equity LifeStyle Properties by 1.4% during the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 3,887,371 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $258,536,000 after purchasing an additional 53,775 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 97.21% of the company’s stock.

Equity LifeStyle Properties Trading Up 0.9 %

Shares of ELS stock opened at $64.31 on Monday. Equity LifeStyle Properties, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $58.86 and a fifty-two week high of $76.60. The firm has a market capitalization of $12.29 billion, a P/E ratio of 32.98, a PEG ratio of 3.02 and a beta of 0.72. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $66.59 and its two-hundred day moving average is $67.83. 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 posted its quarterly earnings results on Monday, January 27th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.76 earnings per share 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%. Research analysts expect that Equity LifeStyle Properties, Inc. will post 3.07 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Equity LifeStyle Properties Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, April 11th. Investors of record on Friday, March 28th were issued a $0.515 dividend. This represents a $2.06 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.20%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, March 28th. This is a boost from Equity LifeStyle Properties’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.48. Equity LifeStyle Properties’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 105.64%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts recently commented on the stock. Evercore ISI dropped 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. Robert W. Baird raised their target price 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. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised 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 report on Tuesday, January 21st. Royal Bank of Canada dropped 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. Finally, Truist Financial raised Equity LifeStyle Properties from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, January 17th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $74.20.

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.