Cornercap Investment Counsel Inc. Reduces Stock Holdings in Equity LifeStyle Properties, Inc. (NYSE:ELS)

Cornercap Investment Counsel Inc. lessened its stake in shares of Equity LifeStyle Properties, Inc. (NYSE:ELS) by 3.7% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 10,605 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after selling 406 shares during the period. Cornercap Investment Counsel Inc.’s holdings in Equity LifeStyle Properties were worth $706,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of ELS. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its position in shares of Equity LifeStyle Properties by 1.6% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 25,053,845 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $1,668,586,000 after buying an additional 388,888 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc. lifted its position in shares of Equity LifeStyle Properties by 172.0% during the fourth quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 6,070,817 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $404,319,000 after purchasing an additional 3,838,809 shares during the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted its stake in shares of Equity LifeStyle Properties by 3.2% during the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 4,761,879 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $339,713,000 after purchasing an additional 147,332 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Equity LifeStyle Properties by 1.7% in 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 purchasing an additional 65,191 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Boston Partners increased its stake in Equity LifeStyle Properties by 7.0% in the 4th quarter. Boston Partners now owns 2,971,493 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $197,896,000 after buying an additional 193,927 shares during the period. 97.21% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Equity LifeStyle Properties Stock Up 1.0 %

NYSE:ELS opened at $66.39 on Friday. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $66.97 and its 200-day simple moving average is $68.58. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15, a quick ratio of 0.03 and a current ratio of 0.02. Equity LifeStyle Properties, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $59.82 and a fifty-two week high of $76.60. The stock has a market capitalization of $12.69 billion, a P/E ratio of 34.04, a P/E/G ratio of 3.02 and a beta of 0.79.

Equity LifeStyle Properties (NYSE:ELS) last released its quarterly earnings results 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 net margin of 24.05% and a return on equity of 23.12%. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Equity LifeStyle Properties, Inc. will post 3.07 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Equity LifeStyle Properties Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared 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 is a boost from Equity LifeStyle Properties’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.48. This represents a $2.06 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.10%. Equity LifeStyle Properties’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 105.64%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts have commented on the stock. Evercore ISI dropped 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. Truist Financial raised Equity LifeStyle Properties from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, January 17th. Royal Bank of Canada lowered their target price on Equity LifeStyle Properties from $69.00 to $68.00 and set a “sector perform” rating for the company 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 price target for the company from $72.00 to $80.00 in a research note on Thursday, January 2nd. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised shares of Equity LifeStyle Properties from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their price objective for the stock from $66.00 to $73.00 in a research note on Tuesday, January 21st. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, six have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $73.78.

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.