Handelsbanken Fonder AB Cuts Stake in Equity LifeStyle Properties, Inc. (NYSE:ELS)

Handelsbanken Fonder AB trimmed its stake in Equity LifeStyle Properties, Inc. (NYSE:ELS) by 13.6% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 43,118 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after selling 6,800 shares during the quarter. Handelsbanken Fonder AB’s holdings in Equity LifeStyle Properties were worth $2,872,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of ELS. Creative Planning boosted its holdings in shares of Equity LifeStyle Properties by 37.3% in the 3rd quarter. Creative Planning now owns 6,715 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $479,000 after purchasing an additional 1,824 shares during the last quarter. Blue Trust Inc. raised its position in shares of Equity LifeStyle Properties by 106.7% in the 3rd quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 1,292 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $84,000 after buying an additional 667 shares during the period. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. boosted its holdings in Equity LifeStyle Properties by 119.9% in the third quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 23,204 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $1,642,000 after acquiring an additional 12,651 shares during the last quarter. State of Alaska Department of Revenue grew its position in Equity LifeStyle Properties by 0.3% during the third quarter. State of Alaska Department of Revenue now owns 131,231 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $9,360,000 after acquiring an additional 438 shares during the period. Finally, Financial Advocates Investment Management increased its stake in Equity LifeStyle Properties by 5.5% during the third quarter. Financial Advocates Investment Management now owns 6,248 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $446,000 after acquiring an additional 327 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 97.21% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

ELS has been the topic of several research analyst reports. Truist Financial raised Equity LifeStyle Properties from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, January 17th. Royal Bank of Canada reduced their price target on shares of Equity LifeStyle Properties from $69.00 to $68.00 and set a “sector perform” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, January 29th. Jefferies Financial Group raised shares of Equity LifeStyle Properties from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their price objective for the stock from $72.00 to $80.00 in a research report on Thursday, January 2nd. Evercore ISI reduced their target price on shares of Equity LifeStyle Properties from $74.00 to $73.00 and set an “in-line” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, January 28th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised shares of Equity LifeStyle Properties from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their price target for the stock from $66.00 to $73.00 in a research report on Tuesday, January 21st. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, six have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $73.78.

Equity LifeStyle Properties Price Performance

Shares of ELS stock opened at $66.96 on Tuesday. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $66.28 and a 200-day simple moving average of $69.21. The company has a market capitalization of $12.79 billion, a PE ratio of 34.34, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.02 and a beta of 0.79. Equity LifeStyle Properties, Inc. has a twelve month low of $59.82 and a twelve month high of $76.60. 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 posted its quarterly earnings data on Monday, January 27th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.76 earnings per share for the quarter, meeting analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.76. Equity LifeStyle Properties had a net margin of 24.05% and a return on equity of 23.12%. Equities research analysts anticipate that Equity LifeStyle Properties, Inc. will post 3.07 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Equity LifeStyle Properties Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, April 11th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 28th will be paid a dividend of $0.515 per share. This represents a $2.06 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.08%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 28th. This is a positive change from Equity LifeStyle Properties’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.48. Equity LifeStyle Properties’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 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.