Equity LifeStyle Properties, Inc. (NYSE:ELS) Sees Significant Increase in Short Interest

Equity LifeStyle Properties, Inc. (NYSE:ELS) was the recipient of a large increase in short interest during the month of September. As of September 30th, there was short interest totalling 3,930,000 shares, an increase of 8.6% from the September 15th total of 3,620,000 shares. Currently, 2.2% of the company’s shares are sold short. Based on an average trading volume of 1,140,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 3.4 days.

Analyst Ratings Changes

ELS has been the subject of several research analyst reports. Wells Fargo & Company raised shares of Equity LifeStyle Properties from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and raised their target price for the stock from $70.50 to $82.00 in a research report on Thursday, September 19th. Royal Bank of Canada restated a “sector perform” rating and set a $68.00 price objective on shares of Equity LifeStyle Properties in a research note on Wednesday, July 24th. Truist Financial boosted their price target on Equity LifeStyle Properties from $65.00 to $70.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 30th. Jefferies Financial Group started coverage on shares of Equity LifeStyle Properties in a research report on Thursday. They set a “hold” rating and a $72.00 price objective on the stock. Finally, Evercore ISI increased their target price on Equity LifeStyle Properties from $73.00 to $76.00 and gave the company an “in-line” rating in a report on Monday, September 16th. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, three have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $71.44.

Equity LifeStyle Properties Price Performance

Equity LifeStyle Properties stock traded up $0.13 during mid-day trading on Thursday, hitting $70.14. The stock had a trading volume of 1,220,408 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,200,842. Equity LifeStyle Properties has a one year low of $59.82 and a one year high of $76.60. The company has a current ratio of 0.03, a quick ratio of 0.03 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.34. The firm has a market capitalization of $13.08 billion, a P/E ratio of 38.13, a P/E/G ratio of 3.60 and a beta of 0.79. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $71.36 and its 200 day moving average is $66.58.

Equity LifeStyle Properties (NYSE:ELS) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Monday, July 22nd. The real estate investment trust reported $0.42 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.65 by ($0.23). The business had revenue of $380.00 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $334.53 million. Equity LifeStyle Properties had a return on equity of 23.71% and a net margin of 23.56%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 2.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $0.66 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Equity LifeStyle Properties will post 2.92 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Equity LifeStyle Properties Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, October 11th. Shareholders of record on Friday, September 27th were issued a dividend of $0.4775 per share. This represents a $1.91 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.72%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, September 27th. This is an increase from Equity LifeStyle Properties’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.48. Equity LifeStyle Properties’s dividend payout ratio is 104.37%.

Insider Transactions at Equity LifeStyle Properties

In other news, COO Patrick Waite sold 20,820 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $70.23, for a total transaction of $1,462,188.60. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer now directly owns 221,777 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $15,575,398.71. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In related news, COO Patrick Waite sold 20,820 shares of Equity LifeStyle Properties stock in a transaction on Friday, August 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $70.23, for a total value of $1,462,188.60. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer now directly owns 221,777 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $15,575,398.71. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, CEO Marguerite M. Nader sold 33,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, September 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $75.52, for a total transaction of $2,492,160.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 260,936 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $19,705,886.72. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 85,808 shares of company stock worth $6,348,011. 1.40% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. PGGM Investments boosted its stake in Equity LifeStyle Properties by 4,586.1% during the second quarter. PGGM Investments now owns 1,843,496 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $120,067,000 after buying an additional 1,804,156 shares during the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. increased its position in Equity LifeStyle Properties by 55.1% in the first quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 1,511,750 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $97,357,000 after purchasing an additional 536,864 shares during the last quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC raised its stake in Equity LifeStyle Properties by 4,590.4% during the first quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC now owns 459,846 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $29,614,000 after purchasing an additional 450,042 shares in the last quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. lifted its position in Equity LifeStyle Properties by 569.9% during the second quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. now owns 494,940 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $32,235,000 after purchasing an additional 421,062 shares during the last quarter. Finally, National Bank of Canada FI grew its stake in shares of Equity LifeStyle Properties by 46,368.4% in the 1st quarter. National Bank of Canada FI now owns 355,483 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $22,321,000 after buying an additional 354,718 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 97.21% of the company’s stock.

Equity LifeStyle Properties Company Profile

We are a self-administered, self-managed real estate investment trust (REIT) with headquarters in Chicago. As of January 29, 2024, we own or have an interest in 451 properties in 35 states and British Columbia consisting of 172,465 sites.