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. Stockholders 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 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.13%. This is an increase from Equity LifeStyle Properties’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.48.

Equity LifeStyle Properties has increased its dividend by an average of 9.6% annually 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 tumble. 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 %

Equity LifeStyle Properties stock traded down $0.25 during mid-day trading on Thursday, hitting $65.71. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 77,505 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,517,018. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $67.20 and its two-hundred day moving average is $69.46. The company has a current ratio of 0.02, a quick ratio of 0.03 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15. The firm has a market capitalization of $12.55 billion, a PE ratio of 33.73, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.78 and a beta of 0.79. Equity LifeStyle Properties has a 1 year low of $59.82 and a 1 year high of $76.60.

Equity LifeStyle Properties (NYSE:ELS) last issued its quarterly earnings data 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 return on equity of 23.12% and a net margin of 24.05%. On average, analysts anticipate that Equity LifeStyle Properties will post 3.1 EPS for the current year.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms have issued reports on ELS. Jefferies Financial Group upgraded shares of Equity LifeStyle Properties from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their price objective for the company from $72.00 to $80.00 in a research note on Thursday, January 2nd. UBS Group upgraded shares of Equity LifeStyle Properties to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 10th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised shares of Equity LifeStyle Properties from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their price target for the stock from $66.00 to $73.00 in a research note on Tuesday, January 21st. Robert W. Baird raised their price objective on Equity LifeStyle Properties from $72.00 to $73.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 28th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reduced 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 report on Wednesday, January 29th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price 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.