Franklin Resources Inc. Raises Position in Equity LifeStyle Properties, Inc. (NYSE:ELS)

Franklin Resources Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Equity LifeStyle Properties, Inc. (NYSE:ELS) by 0.9% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 816,774 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after buying an additional 6,973 shares during the period. Franklin Resources Inc.’s holdings in Equity LifeStyle Properties were worth $54,397,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in ELS. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Equity LifeStyle Properties by 1.6% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 25,053,845 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $1,668,586,000 after acquiring an additional 388,888 shares during the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. increased its stake in Equity LifeStyle Properties by 172.0% in the 4th quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 6,070,817 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $404,319,000 after purchasing an additional 3,838,809 shares during the period. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted its position in Equity LifeStyle Properties by 3.2% in 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 purchasing an additional 147,332 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Equity LifeStyle Properties by 1.7% during the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 3,833,596 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $273,014,000 after purchasing an additional 65,191 shares during the period. Finally, Boston Partners grew its holdings in shares of Equity LifeStyle Properties by 7.0% in the fourth quarter. Boston Partners now owns 2,971,493 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $197,896,000 after purchasing an additional 193,927 shares during the last quarter. 97.21% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts recently commented on ELS shares. BMO Capital Markets upgraded shares of Equity LifeStyle Properties from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $78.00 price target for the company in a report on Friday. Robert W. Baird upped their price objective on shares of Equity LifeStyle Properties from $72.00 to $73.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 28th. Evercore ISI cut their target price on Equity LifeStyle Properties from $74.00 to $73.00 and set an “in-line” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, January 28th. Jefferies Financial Group upgraded Equity LifeStyle Properties from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their price target for the company from $72.00 to $80.00 in a report on Thursday, January 2nd. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upgraded Equity LifeStyle Properties from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their price objective for the stock from $66.00 to $73.00 in a report on Tuesday, January 21st. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $74.20.

Equity LifeStyle Properties Trading Down 3.1 %

NYSE ELS opened at $65.94 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $12.60 billion, a PE ratio of 33.82, a P/E/G ratio of 3.02 and a beta of 0.72. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $66.98 and its 200 day moving average is $68.32. Equity LifeStyle Properties, Inc. has a twelve month low of $59.82 and a twelve month high of $76.60. The company has a quick ratio of 0.03, a current ratio of 0.02 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 EPS 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%. Research analysts forecast 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 issued a $0.515 dividend. This represents a $2.06 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.12%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 28th. This is a boost from Equity LifeStyle Properties’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.48. Equity LifeStyle Properties’s dividend payout ratio is 105.64%.

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.