Geode Capital Management LLC Increases Stock Holdings in Equity LifeStyle Properties, Inc. (NYSE:ELS)

Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Equity LifeStyle Properties, Inc. (NYSE:ELS) by 1.4% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 3,887,371 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after acquiring an additional 53,775 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC owned 2.03% of Equity LifeStyle Properties worth $258,536,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of ELS. National Pension Service purchased a new position in shares of Equity LifeStyle Properties during the 4th quarter valued at $25,000. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. bought a new stake in Equity LifeStyle Properties during the fourth quarter valued at $30,000. Board of the Pension Protection Fund bought a new stake in Equity LifeStyle Properties during the fourth quarter valued at $33,000. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB grew its position in Equity LifeStyle Properties by 43.5% during the fourth quarter. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB now owns 564 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $38,000 after buying an additional 171 shares in the last quarter. Finally, UMB Bank n.a. increased its stake in Equity LifeStyle Properties by 68.2% in the 4th quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 898 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $60,000 after acquiring an additional 364 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 97.21% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts have recently commented on the company. Robert W. Baird boosted their price objective on Equity LifeStyle Properties from $72.00 to $73.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 28th. Truist Financial raised shares of Equity LifeStyle Properties from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, January 17th. BMO Capital Markets raised shares of Equity LifeStyle Properties from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $78.00 price target on the stock in a report on Friday. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised shares of Equity LifeStyle Properties from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their price objective for the stock from $66.00 to $73.00 in a report on Tuesday, January 21st. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group raised Equity LifeStyle Properties from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their target price for the company from $72.00 to $80.00 in a research note on Thursday, January 2nd. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $74.20.

Equity LifeStyle Properties Stock Down 3.1 %

ELS opened at $65.94 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $12.60 billion, a P/E ratio of 33.82, a P/E/G ratio of 3.02 and a beta of 0.72. Equity LifeStyle Properties, Inc. has a 12 month low of $59.82 and a 12 month high of $76.60. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $66.98 and its 200-day moving average price is $68.28. The company has a current ratio of 0.02, a quick ratio of 0.03 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15.

Equity LifeStyle Properties (NYSE:ELS) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Monday, January 27th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.76 earnings per share for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate of $0.76. Equity LifeStyle Properties had a return on equity of 23.12% and a net margin of 24.05%. On average, equities analysts expect that Equity LifeStyle Properties, Inc. will post 3.07 EPS for the current year.

Equity LifeStyle Properties Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, April 11th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 28th will be given a dividend of $0.515 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 28th. This represents a $2.06 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.12%. This is a boost from Equity LifeStyle Properties’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.48. Equity LifeStyle Properties’s dividend payout ratio is presently 105.64%.

About Equity LifeStyle Properties

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.