Geode Capital Management LLC Grows Stake in Equity LifeStyle Properties, Inc. (NYSE:ELS)

Geode Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Equity LifeStyle Properties, Inc. (NYSE:ELS) by 1.4% during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 3,887,371 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after acquiring an additional 53,775 shares during the quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC’s holdings in Equity LifeStyle Properties were worth $258,536,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Principal Financial Group Inc. raised its position in shares of 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 acquiring an additional 3,838,809 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in shares of Equity LifeStyle Properties during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $163,212,000. Cbre Investment Management Listed Real Assets LLC bought a new stake in shares of Equity LifeStyle Properties during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $41,391,000. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its holdings in 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 worth $1,668,586,000 after acquiring an additional 388,888 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Boston Partners lifted its position in Equity LifeStyle Properties by 7.0% in the 4th quarter. Boston Partners now owns 2,971,493 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $197,896,000 after acquiring an additional 193,927 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 97.21% of the company’s stock.

Equity LifeStyle Properties Price Performance

Shares of Equity LifeStyle Properties stock opened at $65.94 on Friday. Equity LifeStyle Properties, Inc. has a one year low of $59.82 and a one year high of $76.60. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15, a quick ratio of 0.03 and a current ratio of 0.02. The stock has a market cap of $12.60 billion, a P/E ratio of 33.82, a P/E/G ratio of 3.02 and a beta of 0.72. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $66.98 and its 200 day moving average is $68.28.

Equity LifeStyle Properties (NYSE:ELS) last released its earnings results on Monday, January 27th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.76 earnings per share for the quarter, meeting analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.76. Equity LifeStyle Properties had a net margin of 24.05% and a return on equity of 23.12%. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Equity LifeStyle Properties, Inc. will post 3.07 earnings per share for the current year.

Equity LifeStyle Properties Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared 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 is an increase from Equity LifeStyle Properties’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.48. This represents a $2.06 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.12%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 28th. Equity LifeStyle Properties’s payout ratio is currently 105.64%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have recently weighed in on ELS. Evercore ISI decreased their price target on Equity LifeStyle Properties from $74.00 to $73.00 and set an “in-line” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, January 28th. Truist Financial upgraded shares of Equity LifeStyle Properties from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, January 17th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upgraded shares of Equity LifeStyle Properties from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their price target for the stock from $66.00 to $73.00 in a research note on Tuesday, January 21st. Jefferies Financial Group upgraded shares of Equity LifeStyle Properties from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their price objective for the company from $72.00 to $80.00 in a research report on Thursday, January 2nd. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada cut their target price 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. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $74.20.

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.