Brokerages Set Equity LifeStyle Properties, Inc. (NYSE:ELS) Target Price at $72.50

Shares of Equity LifeStyle Properties, Inc. (NYSE:ELS) have earned a consensus recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the eleven ratings firms that are presently covering the stock, MarketBeat reports. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, four have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. The average twelve-month price objective among brokerages that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $72.50.

Several equities analysts recently commented on the stock. UBS Group raised shares of Equity LifeStyle Properties to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 10th. Evercore ISI increased their price objective on shares of Equity LifeStyle Properties from $76.00 to $77.00 and gave the stock an “in-line” rating in a research note on Monday, October 21st. Jefferies Financial Group initiated coverage on Equity LifeStyle Properties in a research report on Thursday, October 17th. They set a “hold” rating and a $72.00 price objective for the company. Compass Point boosted 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. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company upgraded shares of Equity LifeStyle Properties from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and raised their price objective for the company from $70.50 to $82.00 in a research report on Thursday, September 19th.

Equity LifeStyle Properties Price Performance

Shares of NYSE ELS opened at $67.78 on Thursday. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $69.81 and its 200-day simple moving average is $69.12. Equity LifeStyle Properties has a fifty-two week low of $59.82 and a fifty-two week high of $76.60. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.35, a quick ratio of 0.03 and a current ratio of 0.03. The firm has a market capitalization of $12.95 billion, a PE ratio of 34.94, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.61 and a beta of 0.77.

Equity LifeStyle Properties (NYSE:ELS) last issued its earnings results on Monday, October 21st. The real estate investment trust reported $0.44 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.72 by ($0.28). Equity LifeStyle Properties had a return on equity of 24.10% and a net margin of 23.97%. The business had revenue of $387.30 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $315.78 million. During the same period last year, the company posted $0.71 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was down .4% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Equity LifeStyle Properties will post 2.92 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Equity LifeStyle Properties Cuts Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, January 10th. Investors of record on Friday, December 27th will be given a dividend of $0.477 per share. This represents a $1.91 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.81%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, December 27th. Equity LifeStyle Properties’s payout ratio is presently 98.45%.

Institutional Trading of Equity LifeStyle Properties

Several large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in ELS. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC boosted its holdings in Equity LifeStyle Properties by 41.0% in the second quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 13,699 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $892,000 after purchasing an additional 3,983 shares in the last quarter. Blue Trust Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Equity LifeStyle Properties by 167.1% during the 2nd quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 625 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $40,000 after acquiring an additional 391 shares in the last quarter. Raymond James & Associates increased its holdings in shares of Equity LifeStyle Properties by 27.7% during the 2nd quarter. Raymond James & Associates now owns 100,114 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $6,520,000 after acquiring an additional 21,686 shares during the last quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp raised its stake in shares of Equity LifeStyle Properties by 8.7% in the 2nd quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp now owns 4,947 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $322,000 after acquiring an additional 394 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Fifth Third Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Equity LifeStyle Properties in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $363,000. 97.21% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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.