Alliancebernstein L.P. Boosts Stock Position in Equity LifeStyle Properties, Inc. (NYSE:ELS)

Alliancebernstein L.P. lifted its stake in Equity LifeStyle Properties, Inc. (NYSE:ELS) by 0.6% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 295,620 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,754 shares during the quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. owned about 0.15% of Equity LifeStyle Properties worth $19,688,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Empowered Funds LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Equity LifeStyle Properties in the 4th quarter worth $380,000. Vert Asset Management LLC raised its stake in Equity LifeStyle Properties by 9.8% during the fourth quarter. Vert Asset Management LLC now owns 79,516 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $5,296,000 after purchasing an additional 7,092 shares during the period. Nordea Investment Management AB raised its stake in Equity LifeStyle Properties by 6.4% during the fourth quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 21,574 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $1,432,000 after purchasing an additional 1,301 shares during the period. Sanctuary Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in Equity LifeStyle Properties by 95.3% in the 3rd quarter. Sanctuary Advisors LLC now owns 32,578 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $2,311,000 after purchasing an additional 15,899 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Lecap Asset Management Ltd. grew its stake in shares of Equity LifeStyle Properties by 185.8% in the 4th quarter. Lecap Asset Management Ltd. now owns 24,882 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $1,657,000 after buying an additional 16,176 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 97.21% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts recently commented on ELS shares. Robert W. Baird upped their price objective on Equity LifeStyle Properties from $72.00 to $73.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 28th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upgraded Equity LifeStyle Properties from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their price target for the stock from $66.00 to $73.00 in a report on Tuesday, January 21st. BMO Capital Markets upgraded shares of Equity LifeStyle Properties from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $78.00 price objective on the stock in a report on Friday. Evercore ISI lowered their target price on shares of 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, 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. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Equity LifeStyle Properties presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $74.20.

Equity LifeStyle Properties Price Performance

Shares of ELS opened at $63.29 on Tuesday. The company has a market cap of $12.10 billion, a P/E ratio of 32.46, a PEG ratio of 3.02 and a beta of 0.72. 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 quick ratio of 0.03, a current ratio of 0.02 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $66.86 and its 200 day moving average price is $68.17.

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, hitting analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.76. Equity LifeStyle Properties had a return on equity of 23.12% and a net margin of 24.05%. On average, 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 business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, April 11th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 28th will be given a dividend of $0.515 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 28th. This is an increase from Equity LifeStyle Properties’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.48. This represents a $2.06 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.25%. Equity LifeStyle Properties’s payout ratio is currently 105.64%.

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.