Signaturefd LLC Increases Stock Holdings in Equity LifeStyle Properties, Inc. (NYSE:ELS)

Signaturefd LLC grew its holdings in shares of Equity LifeStyle Properties, Inc. (NYSE:ELS) by 32.9% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 1,854 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after purchasing an additional 459 shares during the period. Signaturefd LLC’s holdings in Equity LifeStyle Properties were worth $123,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the business. Principal Financial Group Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Equity LifeStyle Properties by 172.0% in the fourth quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 6,070,817 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $404,319,000 after purchasing an additional 3,838,809 shares in the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. grew its stake in shares of Equity LifeStyle Properties by 3.2% in the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 4,761,879 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $339,713,000 after acquiring an additional 147,332 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its position in shares of Equity LifeStyle Properties by 1.7% during the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 3,833,596 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $273,014,000 after acquiring an additional 65,191 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its stake in shares of Equity LifeStyle Properties by 4.6% in the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 2,553,330 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $170,052,000 after acquiring an additional 112,139 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Daiwa Securities Group Inc. boosted its holdings in Equity LifeStyle Properties by 370.6% in the third quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. now owns 2,329,431 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $166,182,000 after purchasing an additional 1,834,491 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 97.21% of the company’s stock.

Equity LifeStyle Properties Trading Down 0.4 %

Shares of Equity LifeStyle Properties stock opened at $68.47 on Monday. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $66.83 and a 200-day simple moving average of $68.79. Equity LifeStyle Properties, Inc. has a 12-month low of $59.82 and a 12-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 stock has a market cap of $13.09 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 35.11, a PEG ratio of 3.02 and a beta of 0.79.

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 (EPS) for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of $0.76. Equity LifeStyle Properties had a return on equity of 23.12% and a net margin of 24.05%. On average, equities analysts forecast that Equity LifeStyle Properties, Inc. will post 3.07 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Equity LifeStyle Properties Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, April 11th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 28th will be paid a $0.515 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 28th. This represents a $2.06 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.01%. This is a boost from Equity LifeStyle Properties’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.48. Equity LifeStyle Properties’s payout ratio is currently 105.64%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have weighed in on ELS. Robert W. Baird upped their price target on Equity LifeStyle Properties from $72.00 to $73.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 28th. Evercore ISI cut their target price on shares of Equity LifeStyle Properties from $74.00 to $73.00 and set an “in-line” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, January 28th. Royal Bank of Canada reduced their target price 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. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upgraded shares of Equity LifeStyle Properties from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their price target for the stock from $66.00 to $73.00 in a report on Tuesday, January 21st. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group upgraded shares of Equity LifeStyle Properties from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their price objective for the company from $72.00 to $80.00 in a report on Thursday, January 2nd. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, six have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Equity LifeStyle Properties currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $73.78.

Equity LifeStyle Properties Company 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.