Equity LifeStyle Properties (NYSE:ELS) Raised to “Overweight” at Wells Fargo & Company

Wells Fargo & Company upgraded shares of Equity LifeStyle Properties (NYSE:ELS) from an equal weight rating to an overweight rating in a research report report published on Thursday morning, MarketBeat reports. The firm currently has $82.00 price objective on the real estate investment trust’s stock, up from their prior price objective of $70.50.

A number of other equities research analysts also recently weighed in on the company. Evercore ISI raised their price target on Equity LifeStyle Properties from $73.00 to $76.00 and gave the company an in-line rating in a research report on Monday, September 16th. Royal Bank of Canada reissued a sector perform rating and set a $68.00 price objective on shares of Equity LifeStyle Properties in a report on Wednesday, July 24th. Finally, Truist Financial upped their target price 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. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Equity LifeStyle Properties presently has an average rating of Hold and a consensus target price of $70.67.

Equity LifeStyle Properties Stock Down 2.4 %

Shares of NYSE ELS opened at $71.81 on Thursday. The company has a current ratio of 0.03, a quick ratio of 0.03 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.34. The business has a 50-day moving average of $70.95 and a 200-day moving average of $66.05. The firm has a market capitalization of $13.39 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 39.24, a PEG ratio of 4.32 and a beta of 0.79. Equity LifeStyle Properties has a 12 month low of $59.82 and a 12 month high of $76.60.

Equity LifeStyle Properties (NYSE:ELS) last released its quarterly earnings results on Monday, July 22nd. The real estate investment trust reported $0.42 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.65 by ($0.23). The company had revenue of $380.00 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $334.53 million. Equity LifeStyle Properties had a return on equity of 23.71% and a net margin of 23.56%. Equity LifeStyle Properties’s quarterly revenue was up 2.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $0.66 EPS. Sell-side analysts expect that Equity LifeStyle Properties will post 2.91 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Equity LifeStyle Properties Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, October 11th. Investors of record on Friday, September 27th will be paid a $0.4775 dividend. This represents a $1.91 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.66%. This is an increase from Equity LifeStyle Properties’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.48. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, September 27th. Equity LifeStyle Properties’s payout ratio is presently 104.37%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Equity LifeStyle Properties

In other Equity LifeStyle Properties news, CEO Marguerite M. Nader sold 33,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, September 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $75.52, for a total value of $2,492,160.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 260,936 shares in the company, valued at $19,705,886.72. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. In other news, CEO Marguerite M. Nader sold 33,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 260,936 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $19,705,886.72. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, CFO Paul Seavey sold 31,988 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, September 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $74.83, for a total value of $2,393,662.04. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 148,463 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $11,109,486.29. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 85,808 shares of company stock valued at $6,348,011 in the last quarter. Company insiders own 1.40% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Equity LifeStyle Properties

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of ELS. Private Advisor Group LLC bought a new stake in Equity LifeStyle Properties during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $238,000. Financial Advocates Investment Management bought a new stake in shares of Equity LifeStyle Properties during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $219,000. BI Asset Management Fondsmaeglerselskab A S grew its stake in Equity LifeStyle Properties by 4.7% in the fourth quarter. BI Asset Management Fondsmaeglerselskab A S now owns 3,920 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $277,000 after purchasing an additional 177 shares during the period. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. raised its holdings in Equity LifeStyle Properties by 8.3% in the fourth quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 18,981 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $1,339,000 after purchasing an additional 1,457 shares in the last quarter. Finally, UBS Group AG lifted its position in Equity LifeStyle Properties by 1,029.9% during the fourth quarter. UBS Group AG now owns 243,770 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $17,196,000 after buying an additional 222,196 shares during the period. 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.