Equity LifeStyle Properties, Inc. (NYSE:ELS) Announces Dividend Increase – $0.48 Per Share

Equity LifeStyle Properties, Inc. (NYSE:ELS) declared a quarterly dividend on Tuesday, July 30th, Wall Street Journal reports. Shareholders of record on Friday, September 27th will be given a dividend of 0.4775 per share by the real estate investment trust on Friday, October 11th. This represents a $1.91 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.62%. 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 has increased its dividend payment by an average of 18.9% annually over the last three years and has raised its dividend every year for the last 20 years. Equity LifeStyle Properties has a dividend payout ratio of 101.6% indicating that the company cannot currently cover its dividend with earnings alone and is relying on its balance sheet to cover its dividend payments. Equities research analysts expect Equity LifeStyle Properties to earn $3.08 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $1.91 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 62.0%.

Equity LifeStyle Properties Price Performance

ELS opened at $72.93 on Wednesday. The company has a market capitalization of $13.60 billion, a P/E ratio of 39.85, a PEG ratio of 4.22 and a beta of 0.79. The company has a 50-day moving average of $71.17 and a 200-day moving average of $66.14. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.34, a quick ratio of 0.03 and a current ratio of 0.03. Equity LifeStyle Properties has a 1-year low of $59.82 and a 1-year high of $76.60.

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

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts recently issued reports on the company. Truist Financial raised their price objective 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. Wells Fargo & Company raised shares of Equity LifeStyle Properties from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and lifted their price target for the company from $70.50 to $82.00 in a report on Thursday, September 19th. Evercore ISI increased their price objective on shares of Equity LifeStyle Properties from $73.00 to $76.00 and gave the stock an “in-line” rating in a research note on Monday, September 16th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada restated a “sector perform” rating and issued a $68.00 target price on shares of Equity LifeStyle Properties in a research note on Wednesday, July 24th. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Equity LifeStyle Properties currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $70.67.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Equity LifeStyle Properties news, CEO Marguerite M. Nader sold 33,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 sale, the chief executive officer now owns 260,936 shares in the company, valued at $19,705,886.72. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. In related news, COO Patrick Waite sold 20,820 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $70.23, for a total value of $1,462,188.60. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer now owns 221,777 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $15,575,398.71. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CEO Marguerite M. Nader sold 33,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, September 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $75.52, for a total transaction of $2,492,160.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 260,936 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $19,705,886.72. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 85,808 shares of company stock worth $6,348,011. Insiders own 1.40% 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.