Equity LifeStyle Properties (NYSE:ELS) Reaches New 1-Year High at $74.16

Equity LifeStyle Properties, Inc. (NYSE:ELS)’s share price hit a new 52-week high during mid-day trading on Friday . The company traded as high as $74.16 and last traded at $73.87, with a volume of 1511313 shares trading hands. The stock had previously closed at $72.33.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

ELS has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed a “sector perform” rating and issued a $68.00 price target on shares of Equity LifeStyle Properties in a report on Wednesday, July 24th. Evercore ISI raised their target price on Equity LifeStyle Properties from $72.00 to $73.00 and gave the stock an “in-line” rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 28th. Finally, Truist Financial boosted their price target on Equity LifeStyle Properties from $65.00 to $70.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 30th. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Equity LifeStyle Properties currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $68.88.

Equity LifeStyle Properties Stock Up 2.1 %

The company has a quick ratio of 0.03, a current ratio of 0.03 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.34. The company has a market capitalization of $13.78 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 40.37, a P/E/G ratio of 4.19 and a beta of 0.79. The business’s 50-day moving average is $68.96 and its 200-day moving average is $65.51.

Equity LifeStyle Properties (NYSE:ELS) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Monday, July 22nd. The real estate investment trust reported $0.42 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.65 by ($0.23). The company had revenue of $380.00 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $334.53 million. Equity LifeStyle Properties had a net margin of 23.56% and a return on equity of 23.71%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 2.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm earned $0.66 EPS. As a group, equities analysts predict that Equity LifeStyle Properties, Inc. will post 2.91 earnings per share for the current year.

Equity LifeStyle Properties Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, October 11th. Shareholders of record on Friday, September 27th will be given a $0.4775 dividend. This represents a $1.91 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.59%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, September 27th. This is a positive change from Equity LifeStyle Properties’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.48. Equity LifeStyle Properties’s dividend payout ratio is currently 104.37%.

Insider Activity

In related news, COO Patrick Waite sold 20,820 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, August 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $70.23, for a total transaction of $1,462,188.60. Following the sale, the chief operating officer now directly owns 221,777 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $15,575,398.71. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Insiders own 1.40% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Equity LifeStyle Properties

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of ELS. Cim LLC grew its holdings in Equity LifeStyle Properties by 7.2% in the second quarter. Cim LLC now owns 41,573 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $3,007,000 after purchasing an additional 2,779 shares during the period. Sanctuary Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Equity LifeStyle Properties during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $1,010,000. Point72 Asset Management L.P. grew its stake in Equity LifeStyle Properties by 744.8% in the 2nd quarter. Point72 Asset Management L.P. now owns 251,747 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $16,396,000 after acquiring an additional 221,947 shares during the period. Lighthouse Investment Partners LLC acquired a new stake in Equity LifeStyle Properties in the 2nd quarter valued at $4,885,000. Finally, MBB Public Markets I LLC purchased a new stake in Equity LifeStyle Properties in the 2nd quarter worth $788,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 97.21% of the company’s stock.

About Equity LifeStyle Properties

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.