Equity LifeStyle Properties, Inc. (NYSE:ELS) Shares Bought by Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd.

Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. lifted its position in shares of Equity LifeStyle Properties, Inc. (NYSE:ELS) by 7.2% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 301,289 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after purchasing an additional 20,290 shares during the period. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd.’s holdings in Equity LifeStyle Properties were worth $20,066,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Townsquare Capital LLC boosted its position in Equity LifeStyle Properties by 23.7% during the 3rd 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 purchased a new stake in shares of Equity LifeStyle Properties in the fourth quarter worth about $380,000. Vert Asset Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Equity LifeStyle Properties by 9.8% in 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 buying an additional 7,092 shares in the last quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB raised 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 valued at $1,432,000 after buying an additional 1,301 shares during the period. Finally, Sanctuary Advisors LLC lifted its position in Equity LifeStyle Properties by 95.3% during the 3rd quarter. Sanctuary Advisors LLC now owns 32,578 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $2,311,000 after acquiring an additional 15,899 shares in the last quarter. 97.21% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Equity LifeStyle Properties Stock Performance

Shares of ELS stock opened at $66.39 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $12.69 billion, a P/E ratio of 34.04, a PEG ratio of 3.02 and a beta of 0.79. The business has a 50 day moving average of $66.97 and a two-hundred day moving average of $68.58. Equity LifeStyle Properties, Inc. has a 52 week low of $59.82 and a 52 week 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 issued its quarterly earnings data 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 return on equity of 23.12% and a net margin of 24.05%. As a group, analysts anticipate that Equity LifeStyle Properties, Inc. will post 3.07 EPS for the current year.

Equity LifeStyle Properties Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, April 11th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 28th will be given a dividend of $0.515 per share. This represents a $2.06 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.10%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 28th. This is a positive change from Equity LifeStyle Properties’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.48. Equity LifeStyle Properties’s payout ratio is 105.64%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts have issued reports on the stock. Royal Bank of Canada lowered their price objective 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. 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 report on Tuesday, January 28th. Evercore ISI cut their price objective on shares of Equity LifeStyle Properties from $74.00 to $73.00 and set an “in-line” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, January 28th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upgraded Equity LifeStyle Properties from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their target price for the company from $66.00 to $73.00 in a research note on Tuesday, January 21st. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group raised Equity LifeStyle Properties from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their target price for the company from $72.00 to $80.00 in a research report on Thursday, January 2nd. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, six have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently 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.