Johnson Investment Counsel Inc. Cuts Position in Equity LifeStyle Properties, Inc. (NYSE:ELS)

Johnson Investment Counsel Inc. trimmed its position in Equity LifeStyle Properties, Inc. (NYSE:ELS) by 10.6% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 24,299 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after selling 2,892 shares during the quarter. Johnson Investment Counsel Inc.’s holdings in Equity LifeStyle Properties were worth $1,618,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. National Pension Service purchased a new stake in shares of Equity LifeStyle Properties during the 4th quarter valued at about $25,000. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Equity LifeStyle Properties during the 4th quarter valued at about $30,000. Board of the Pension Protection Fund purchased a new stake in shares of Equity LifeStyle Properties during the 4th quarter valued at about $33,000. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB raised its holdings in shares of Equity LifeStyle Properties by 43.5% during the 4th quarter. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB now owns 564 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $38,000 after buying an additional 171 shares during the period. Finally, UMB Bank n.a. raised its holdings in shares of Equity LifeStyle Properties by 68.2% during the 4th quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 898 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $60,000 after buying an additional 364 shares during the period. 97.21% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Equity LifeStyle Properties Price Performance

Shares of NYSE ELS opened at $67.83 on Wednesday. Equity LifeStyle Properties, Inc. has a twelve month low of $59.82 and a twelve month high of $76.60. 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 company has a market capitalization of $12.96 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 34.78, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.02 and a beta of 0.79. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $66.53 and a 200-day simple moving average of $69.03.

Equity LifeStyle Properties (NYSE:ELS) last issued its quarterly 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 return on equity of 23.12% and a net margin of 24.05%. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Equity LifeStyle Properties, Inc. will post 3.07 earnings per share for the current year.

Equity LifeStyle Properties Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, April 11th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 28th will be issued a $0.515 dividend. This represents a $2.06 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.04%. This is an increase from Equity LifeStyle Properties’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.48. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 28th. Equity LifeStyle Properties’s payout ratio is 105.64%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages recently commented on ELS. 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 report on Tuesday, January 21st. Royal Bank of Canada dropped their target price on 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. Jefferies Financial Group upgraded Equity LifeStyle Properties from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their target price for the company from $72.00 to $80.00 in a report on Thursday, January 2nd. Evercore ISI dropped their target price on 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. Finally, Truist Financial upgraded Equity LifeStyle Properties from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, January 17th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, six have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus 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.