Equity LifeStyle Properties (NYSE:ELS) Upgraded by Jefferies Financial Group to Buy Rating

Jefferies Financial Group upgraded shares of Equity LifeStyle Properties (NYSE:ELS) from a hold rating to a buy rating in a research note released on Thursday, Marketbeat Ratings reports. The brokerage currently has $80.00 price objective on the real estate investment trust’s stock, up from their prior price objective of $72.00.

Several other brokerages have also commented on ELS. Truist Financial increased their price target on shares of Equity LifeStyle Properties from $70.00 to $71.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 12th. Compass Point raised their target price on Equity LifeStyle Properties from $70.00 to $72.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Wells Fargo & Company raised Equity LifeStyle Properties from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and boosted their price target for the stock from $70.50 to $82.00 in a research report on Thursday, September 19th. Evercore ISI increased their price objective on Equity LifeStyle Properties from $76.00 to $77.00 and gave the company an “in-line” rating in a report on Monday, October 21st. Finally, Robert W. Baird upped their target price on Equity LifeStyle Properties from $71.00 to $72.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 22nd. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, five have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Equity LifeStyle Properties presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $73.30.

Equity LifeStyle Properties Price Performance

ELS opened at $66.65 on Thursday. The company has a current ratio of 0.03, a quick ratio of 0.03 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.35. Equity LifeStyle Properties has a 1 year low of $59.82 and a 1 year high of $76.60. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $69.42 and a 200 day moving average price of $69.26. The stock has a market cap of $12.73 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 34.36, a PEG ratio of 3.61 and a beta of 0.77.

Equity LifeStyle Properties (NYSE:ELS) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Monday, October 21st. The real estate investment trust reported $0.44 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.72 by ($0.28). Equity LifeStyle Properties had a net margin of 23.97% and a return on equity of 24.10%. The firm had revenue of $387.30 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $315.78 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $0.71 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down .4% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts forecast that Equity LifeStyle Properties will post 2.92 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Equity LifeStyle Properties Cuts Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, January 10th. Stockholders of record on Friday, December 27th will be issued a dividend of $0.477 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, December 27th. This represents a $1.91 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.86%. Equity LifeStyle Properties’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 98.45%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Equity LifeStyle Properties

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised its stake in 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 valued at $339,713,000 after purchasing an additional 147,332 shares during the last quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Equity LifeStyle Properties by 0.9% during the 3rd quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 4,649,670 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $331,707,000 after purchasing an additional 39,864 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its position in shares of Equity LifeStyle Properties by 1.7% during the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 3,833,596 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $273,014,000 after buying an additional 65,191 shares during the last quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA lifted its stake in shares of Equity LifeStyle Properties by 5.0% in the second quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 3,218,638 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $209,630,000 after buying an additional 153,715 shares during the period. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its position in Equity LifeStyle Properties by 7.1% during the second quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 2,706,099 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $176,250,000 after buying an additional 178,258 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.