Equity LifeStyle Properties (NYSE:ELS) Upgraded to “Buy” at Truist Financial

Truist Financial upgraded shares of Equity LifeStyle Properties (NYSE:ELS) from a hold rating to a buy rating in a research note issued to investors on Friday morning, Marketbeat reports.

ELS has been the subject of several other research reports. Compass Point boosted their target price on shares of Equity LifeStyle Properties from $70.00 to $72.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 23rd. Evercore ISI boosted their price objective on shares of Equity LifeStyle Properties from $76.00 to $77.00 and gave the company an “in-line” rating in a research report on Monday, October 21st. Robert W. Baird raised their target price on shares of Equity LifeStyle Properties from $71.00 to $72.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 22nd. UBS Group raised Equity LifeStyle Properties to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Thursday, October 10th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company raised Equity LifeStyle Properties from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and raised their price target for the stock from $70.50 to $82.00 in a report on Thursday, September 19th. Four equities 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 MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $73.30.

Equity LifeStyle Properties Stock Up 0.5 %

NYSE:ELS opened at $66.52 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.35, a quick ratio of 0.03 and a current ratio of 0.03. The company has a market capitalization of $12.71 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 34.29, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.21 and a beta of 0.79. Equity LifeStyle Properties has a one year low of $59.82 and a one year high of $76.60. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $68.54 and a 200 day simple moving average of $69.46.

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

Equity LifeStyle Properties Cuts Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, January 10th. Investors of record on Friday, December 27th were paid a dividend of $0.477 per share. This represents a $1.91 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.87%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, December 27th. Equity LifeStyle Properties’s dividend payout ratio is currently 98.45%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Equity LifeStyle Properties

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of ELS. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased its stake in shares of Equity LifeStyle Properties by 3.2% during the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 4,761,879 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $339,713,000 after acquiring an additional 147,332 shares during the period. Victory Capital Management Inc. increased its position 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 valued at $331,707,000 after purchasing an additional 39,864 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Equity LifeStyle Properties by 1.7% in the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 3,833,596 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $273,014,000 after buying an additional 65,191 shares in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its holdings in shares of Equity LifeStyle Properties by 7.1% in the second quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 2,706,099 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $176,250,000 after buying an additional 178,258 shares during the period. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its stake in Equity LifeStyle Properties by 3.7% during the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 2,441,191 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $174,155,000 after buying an additional 87,609 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 97.21% of the company’s stock.

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.