B&I Capital AG Buys New Shares in Equity LifeStyle Properties, Inc. (NYSE:ELS)

B&I Capital AG bought a new position in shares of Equity LifeStyle Properties, Inc. (NYSE:ELS) in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor bought 113,780 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock, valued at approximately $7,578,000. Equity LifeStyle Properties accounts for 2.5% of B&I Capital AG’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 19th largest position.

A number of other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Townsquare Capital LLC lifted its holdings in Equity LifeStyle Properties by 23.7% in the third quarter. Townsquare Capital LLC now owns 12,835 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $916,000 after buying an additional 2,458 shares during the period. Vert Asset Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Equity LifeStyle Properties by 9.8% during the fourth quarter. Vert Asset Management LLC now owns 79,516 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $5,296,000 after purchasing an additional 7,092 shares during the last quarter. Empowered Funds LLC purchased a new position in shares of Equity LifeStyle Properties during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $380,000. Victory Capital Management Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Equity LifeStyle Properties by 0.9% during the third 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 last quarter. Finally, Citigroup Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Equity LifeStyle Properties by 16.7% during the third quarter. Citigroup Inc. now owns 213,209 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $15,210,000 after purchasing an additional 30,489 shares during the last quarter. 97.21% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Equity LifeStyle Properties Trading Up 0.4 %

Shares of Equity LifeStyle Properties stock opened at $68.59 on Monday. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $66.37 and its 200-day simple moving average is $69.14. The stock has a market capitalization of $13.10 billion, a PE ratio of 35.17, a P/E/G ratio of 3.02 and a beta of 0.79. Equity LifeStyle Properties, Inc. has a 1-year low of $59.82 and a 1-year high of $76.60. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15, a current ratio of 0.02 and a quick ratio of 0.03.

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

Equity LifeStyle Properties Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, April 11th. Investors of record on Friday, March 28th will be paid a dividend of $0.515 per share. This is a boost from Equity LifeStyle Properties’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.48. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 28th. This represents a $2.06 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.00%. Equity LifeStyle Properties’s payout ratio is 105.64%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

ELS has been the subject of several recent research reports. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upgraded shares of Equity LifeStyle Properties from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their target price for the company from $66.00 to $73.00 in a report on Tuesday, January 21st. Robert W. Baird raised their price target on shares of Equity LifeStyle Properties from $72.00 to $73.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 28th. Evercore ISI reduced their price target on shares of Equity LifeStyle Properties from $74.00 to $73.00 and set an “in-line” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, January 28th. Truist Financial raised shares of Equity LifeStyle Properties from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, January 17th. Finally, 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 for the company in a research report on Wednesday, January 29th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, six have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $73.78.

Equity LifeStyle Properties Company Profile

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.