Mitsubishi UFJ Trust & Banking Corp Sells 23,604 Shares of Equity LifeStyle Properties, Inc. (NYSE:ELS)

Mitsubishi UFJ Trust & Banking Corp reduced its holdings in shares of Equity LifeStyle Properties, Inc. (NYSE:ELS) by 11.1% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 189,179 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after selling 23,604 shares during the quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Trust & Banking Corp’s holdings in Equity LifeStyle Properties were worth $12,599,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the business. Townsquare Capital LLC boosted its position in Equity LifeStyle Properties by 23.7% during the third quarter. Townsquare Capital LLC now owns 12,835 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $916,000 after purchasing an additional 2,458 shares during the period. Empowered Funds LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Equity LifeStyle Properties during the 4th quarter worth about $380,000. Vert Asset Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Equity LifeStyle Properties by 9.8% during the 4th quarter. Vert Asset Management LLC now owns 79,516 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $5,296,000 after buying an additional 7,092 shares during the last quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB boosted its holdings in shares of Equity LifeStyle Properties by 6.4% during the 4th quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 21,574 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $1,432,000 after buying an additional 1,301 shares during the period. Finally, Sanctuary Advisors LLC grew its stake in Equity LifeStyle Properties by 95.3% in the 3rd quarter. Sanctuary Advisors LLC now owns 32,578 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $2,311,000 after buying an additional 15,899 shares during the last quarter. 97.21% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Equity LifeStyle Properties Price Performance

Shares of ELS stock opened at $66.39 on Friday. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $66.97 and a 200 day simple moving average of $68.62. The company has a market cap of $12.69 billion, a P/E ratio of 34.04, a P/E/G ratio of 3.02 and a beta of 0.79. 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, Inc. has a twelve month low of $59.82 and a twelve month high of $76.60.

Equity LifeStyle Properties (NYSE:ELS) last posted its earnings results on Monday, January 27th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.76 EPS for the quarter, hitting analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.76. Equity LifeStyle Properties had a net margin of 24.05% and a return on equity of 23.12%. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Equity LifeStyle Properties, Inc. will post 3.07 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Equity LifeStyle Properties Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, April 11th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 28th will be paid a dividend of $0.515 per share. This represents a $2.06 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.10%. 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 payout ratio is presently 105.64%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on ELS. Robert W. Baird boosted their price objective on Equity LifeStyle Properties from $72.00 to $73.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 28th. Royal Bank of Canada decreased their price target on shares of Equity LifeStyle Properties from $69.00 to $68.00 and set a “sector perform” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, January 29th. Jefferies Financial Group upgraded Equity LifeStyle Properties from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their price objective for the stock from $72.00 to $80.00 in a research note on Thursday, January 2nd. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upgraded Equity LifeStyle Properties from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their target price for the company from $66.00 to $73.00 in a research report on Tuesday, January 21st. Finally, Evercore ISI decreased their price target on Equity LifeStyle Properties from $74.00 to $73.00 and set an “in-line” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, January 28th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, six have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $73.78.

Equity LifeStyle Properties 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.