Equity LifeStyle Properties, Inc. (NYSE:ELS) Increases Dividend to $0.52 Per Share

Equity LifeStyle Properties, Inc. (NYSE:ELS) declared a quarterly dividend on Thursday, February 6th,RTT News reports. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 28th will be paid a dividend of 0.515 per share by the real estate investment trust on Friday, April 11th. This represents a $2.06 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.13%. This is a boost from Equity LifeStyle Properties’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.48.

Equity LifeStyle Properties has increased its dividend by an average of 9.6% per year over the last three years. Equity LifeStyle Properties has a payout ratio of 89.7% meaning its dividend is currently covered by earnings, but may not be in the future if the company’s earnings fall. Research analysts expect Equity LifeStyle Properties to earn $3.28 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 58.2%.

Equity LifeStyle Properties Trading Down 0.4 %

NYSE:ELS traded down $0.25 during midday trading on Thursday, hitting $65.71. The stock had a trading volume of 77,505 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,517,018. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $67.20 and a 200 day moving average of $69.46. The company has a market capitalization of $12.55 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 33.73, a PEG ratio of 2.78 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 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 posted its quarterly earnings results on Monday, January 27th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.76 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, hitting analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.76. Equity LifeStyle Properties had a return on equity of 23.12% and a net margin of 24.05%. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Equity LifeStyle Properties will post 3.1 EPS for the current year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts have recently commented on the stock. Jefferies Financial Group upgraded shares of 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. Compass Point upped their target price on Equity LifeStyle Properties from $70.00 to $72.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Royal Bank of Canada dropped their target price on Equity LifeStyle Properties from $69.00 to $68.00 and set a “sector perform” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, January 29th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upgraded Equity LifeStyle Properties from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their price objective for the stock from $66.00 to $73.00 in a research note on Tuesday, January 21st. Finally, UBS Group upgraded Equity LifeStyle Properties to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 10th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $73.90.

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.