Inspire Investing LLC Reduces Stake in Equity LifeStyle Properties, Inc. (NYSE:ELS)

Inspire Investing LLC lessened its stake in shares of Equity LifeStyle Properties, Inc. (NYSE:ELS) by 25.7% in the second quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 20,728 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after selling 7,158 shares during the quarter. Inspire Investing LLC’s holdings in Equity LifeStyle Properties were worth $1,350,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of ELS. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its stake in Equity LifeStyle Properties by 1.0% during the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 25,069,389 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $1,614,469,000 after acquiring an additional 240,853 shares in the last quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. grew its position in shares of Equity LifeStyle Properties by 7.8% during the 2nd quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 4,609,806 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $300,237,000 after purchasing an additional 331,945 shares in the last quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA grew its position in shares of Equity LifeStyle Properties by 5.0% during the 2nd quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 3,218,638 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $209,630,000 after purchasing an additional 153,715 shares in the last quarter. Boston Partners increased its holdings in shares of Equity LifeStyle Properties by 4.2% in the first quarter. Boston Partners now owns 2,842,566 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $183,035,000 after purchasing an additional 113,891 shares during the period. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its position 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 worth $176,250,000 after buying an additional 178,258 shares in the last quarter. 97.21% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Equity LifeStyle Properties Stock Performance

Equity LifeStyle Properties stock opened at $73.54 on Friday. Equity LifeStyle Properties, Inc. has a 1-year low of $59.82 and a 1-year high of $76.60. The firm has a market cap of $13.71 billion, a P/E ratio of 40.19, a P/E/G ratio of 4.32 and a beta of 0.79. The company has a current ratio of 0.03, a quick ratio of 0.03 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.34. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $70.84 and a 200-day moving average of $66.02.

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

Equity LifeStyle Properties Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, October 11th. Shareholders of record on Friday, September 27th will be given a dividend of $0.4775 per share. This is an increase from Equity LifeStyle Properties’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.48. This represents a $1.91 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.60%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, September 27th. Equity LifeStyle Properties’s payout ratio is presently 104.37%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

ELS has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Royal Bank of Canada restated a “sector perform” rating and set a $68.00 target price on shares of Equity LifeStyle Properties in a research report on Wednesday, July 24th. Truist Financial boosted their price objective on Equity LifeStyle Properties from $65.00 to $70.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 30th. Wells Fargo & Company upgraded shares of Equity LifeStyle Properties from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and upped their price objective for the stock from $70.50 to $82.00 in a research report on Thursday. Finally, Evercore ISI lifted their target price on shares of Equity LifeStyle Properties from $73.00 to $76.00 and gave the company an “in-line” rating in a research report on Monday. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Equity LifeStyle Properties presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $70.67.

Insiders Place Their Bets

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

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.