Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. Raises Stock Holdings in Equity LifeStyle Properties, Inc. (NYSE:ELS)

Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its position in Equity LifeStyle Properties, Inc. (NYSE:ELS) by 4.6% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 2,553,330 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after buying an additional 112,139 shares during the quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. owned approximately 1.34% of Equity LifeStyle Properties worth $170,052,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Townsquare Capital LLC raised its stake in shares of 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 last quarter. Vert Asset Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Equity LifeStyle Properties by 9.8% during the fourth quarter. Vert Asset Management LLC now owns 79,516 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $5,296,000 after purchasing an additional 7,092 shares during the last quarter. Empowered Funds LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Equity LifeStyle Properties during the fourth quarter worth approximately $380,000. Victory Capital Management Inc. raised its stake in shares of Equity LifeStyle Properties by 0.9% during the third quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 4,649,670 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $331,707,000 after purchasing an additional 39,864 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Citigroup Inc. raised its stake in shares of Equity LifeStyle Properties by 16.7% during the third quarter. Citigroup Inc. now owns 213,209 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $15,210,000 after purchasing an additional 30,489 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 97.21% of the company’s stock.

Equity LifeStyle Properties Stock Up 1.2 %

Equity LifeStyle Properties stock opened at $68.56 on Friday. 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 firm has a market capitalization of $13.10 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 35.16, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.02 and a beta of 0.79. Equity LifeStyle Properties, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $59.82 and a fifty-two week high of $76.60. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $66.44 and its two-hundred day moving average is $69.08.

Equity LifeStyle Properties (NYSE:ELS) last posted its earnings results on Monday, January 27th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.76 earnings per share for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate of $0.76. Equity LifeStyle Properties had a return on equity of 23.12% and a net margin of 24.05%. Analysts predict that Equity LifeStyle Properties, Inc. will post 3.07 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Equity LifeStyle Properties Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, April 11th. Investors of record on Friday, March 28th will be paid a dividend of $0.515 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 28th. This represents a $2.06 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.00%. This is a positive change from Equity LifeStyle Properties’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.48. Equity LifeStyle Properties’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 105.64%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have issued reports on ELS. Robert W. Baird increased their price objective on Equity LifeStyle Properties from $72.00 to $73.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 28th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upgraded Equity LifeStyle Properties from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their price objective for the stock from $66.00 to $73.00 in a research report on Tuesday, January 21st. Truist Financial upgraded Equity LifeStyle Properties from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, January 17th. Evercore ISI cut their price objective on Equity LifeStyle Properties from $74.00 to $73.00 and set an “in-line” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, January 28th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group upgraded Equity LifeStyle Properties from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their price objective for the stock from $72.00 to $80.00 in a research report on Thursday, January 2nd. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, six have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Equity LifeStyle Properties 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.