Avantax Advisory Services Inc. Buys Shares of 11,628 Equity LifeStyle Properties, Inc. (NYSE:ELS)

Avantax Advisory Services Inc. bought a new stake in Equity LifeStyle Properties, Inc. (NYSE:ELS) during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor bought 11,628 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock, valued at approximately $774,000.

Other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. National Pension Service acquired a new position in shares of Equity LifeStyle Properties in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Equity LifeStyle Properties in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $30,000. Board of the Pension Protection Fund acquired a new position in shares of Equity LifeStyle Properties in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $33,000. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB raised its position in shares of Equity LifeStyle Properties by 43.5% in 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 purchasing an additional 171 shares in the last quarter. Finally, UMB Bank n.a. raised its position in shares of Equity LifeStyle Properties by 68.2% in the 4th quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 898 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $60,000 after purchasing an additional 364 shares in the last quarter. 97.21% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts recently issued reports on ELS shares. Royal Bank of Canada dropped their price target on Equity LifeStyle Properties from $69.00 to $68.00 and set a “sector perform” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, January 29th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised Equity LifeStyle Properties from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their price target for the company from $66.00 to $73.00 in a research report on Tuesday, January 21st. Truist Financial raised Equity LifeStyle Properties from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, January 17th. Jefferies Financial Group raised Equity LifeStyle Properties from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their price target for the company from $72.00 to $80.00 in a research report on Thursday, January 2nd. Finally, Robert W. Baird upped their price target on Equity LifeStyle Properties from $72.00 to $73.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 28th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, six have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $73.78.

Equity LifeStyle Properties Price Performance

Shares of NYSE ELS opened at $68.72 on Friday. Equity LifeStyle Properties, Inc. has a 1-year low of $59.82 and a 1-year high of $76.60. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15, a current ratio of 0.02 and a quick ratio of 0.03. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $66.75 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $68.87. The firm has a market capitalization of $13.13 billion, a PE ratio of 35.24, a P/E/G ratio of 3.02 and a beta of 0.79.

Equity LifeStyle Properties (NYSE:ELS) last issued its earnings results on Monday, January 27th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.76 earnings per share 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, research analysts expect that Equity LifeStyle Properties, Inc. will post 3.07 EPS for the current year.

Equity LifeStyle Properties Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, April 11th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 28th will be paid a $0.515 dividend. This is a boost from Equity LifeStyle Properties’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.48. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 28th. This represents a $2.06 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.00%. Equity LifeStyle Properties’s dividend payout ratio is presently 105.64%.

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.