Equity LifeStyle Properties, Inc. (NYSE:ELS) Short Interest Update

Equity LifeStyle Properties, Inc. (NYSE:ELS) was the target of a large growth in short interest during the month of September. As of September 30th, there was short interest totalling 3,930,000 shares, a growth of 8.6% from the September 15th total of 3,620,000 shares. Approximately 2.2% of the company’s shares are short sold. Based on an average daily volume of 1,140,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 3.4 days.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts have weighed in on ELS shares. UBS Group upgraded Equity LifeStyle Properties to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 10th. Jefferies Financial Group started coverage on shares of Equity LifeStyle Properties in a research note on Thursday. They issued a “hold” rating and a $72.00 price target on the stock. Truist Financial boosted their price objective on shares of Equity LifeStyle Properties from $65.00 to $70.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 30th. Evercore ISI raised their target price on shares of Equity LifeStyle Properties from $73.00 to $76.00 and gave the stock an “in-line” rating in a research report on Monday, September 16th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company upgraded Equity LifeStyle Properties from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and boosted their price target for the company from $70.50 to $82.00 in a report on Thursday, September 19th. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, three have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $71.44.

Equity LifeStyle Properties Stock Up 0.2 %

Shares of ELS traded up $0.13 during mid-day trading on Thursday, hitting $70.14. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 1,220,408 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,200,842. The company has a current ratio of 0.03, a quick ratio of 0.03 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.34. The company’s 50-day moving average is $71.36 and its 200-day moving average is $66.58. Equity LifeStyle Properties has a 52-week low of $59.82 and a 52-week high of $76.60. The firm has a market capitalization of $13.08 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 38.13, a PEG ratio of 3.60 and a beta of 0.79.

Equity LifeStyle Properties (NYSE:ELS) last posted its earnings results on Monday, July 22nd. The real estate investment trust reported $0.42 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.65 by ($0.23). Equity LifeStyle Properties had a return on equity of 23.71% and a net margin of 23.56%. The company had revenue of $380.00 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $334.53 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $0.66 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 2.7% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Equity LifeStyle Properties will post 2.92 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Equity LifeStyle Properties Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, October 11th. Shareholders of record on Friday, September 27th were paid a $0.4775 dividend. This represents a $1.91 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.72%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, September 27th. This is a positive change from Equity LifeStyle Properties’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.48. Equity LifeStyle Properties’s payout ratio is 104.37%.

Insider Activity

In other Equity LifeStyle Properties news, CEO Marguerite M. Nader sold 33,000 shares of Equity LifeStyle Properties stock in a transaction on Monday, September 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $75.52, for a total transaction of $2,492,160.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 260,936 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $19,705,886.72. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. In related news, CEO Marguerite M. Nader sold 33,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, September 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $75.52, for a total value of $2,492,160.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 260,936 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $19,705,886.72. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, COO Patrick Waite sold 20,820 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $70.23, for a total value of $1,462,188.60. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer now owns 221,777 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $15,575,398.71. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 85,808 shares of company stock valued at $6,348,011 in the last ninety days. Insiders own 1.40% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Equity LifeStyle Properties

A number of large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. V Square Quantitative Management LLC grew its position in shares of Equity LifeStyle Properties by 31.3% in the 3rd quarter. V Square Quantitative Management LLC now owns 613 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $44,000 after buying an additional 146 shares during the last quarter. Aurora Investment Managers LLC. boosted its stake in Equity LifeStyle Properties by 23.6% in the third quarter. Aurora Investment Managers LLC. now owns 47,998 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $3,424,000 after acquiring an additional 9,166 shares in the last quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd grew its holdings in Equity LifeStyle Properties by 2.5% in the third quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd now owns 55,197 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $3,938,000 after purchasing an additional 1,363 shares during the last quarter. Bar Harbor Wealth Management increased its position in shares of Equity LifeStyle Properties by 17.5% during the third quarter. Bar Harbor Wealth Management now owns 73,246 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $5,225,000 after purchasing an additional 10,927 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Swedbank AB increased its position in shares of Equity LifeStyle Properties by 10.7% during the third quarter. Swedbank AB now owns 365,305 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $26,061,000 after purchasing an additional 35,305 shares in the last quarter. 97.21% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Equity LifeStyle Properties Company Profile

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.