Equity LifeStyle Properties, Inc. (NYSE:ELS) Shares Sold by Victory Capital Management Inc.

Victory Capital Management Inc. trimmed its position in shares of Equity LifeStyle Properties, Inc. (NYSE:ELS) by 0.4% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 4,630,189 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after selling 19,481 shares during the quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc.’s holdings in Equity LifeStyle Properties were worth $308,371,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of ELS. Principal Financial Group Inc. grew its position in Equity LifeStyle Properties by 172.0% in the 4th 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 acquiring an additional 3,838,809 shares in the last quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. lifted its position in shares of Equity LifeStyle Properties by 370.6% during the third quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. now owns 2,329,431 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $166,182,000 after purchasing an additional 1,834,491 shares in the last quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC boosted its stake in shares of Equity LifeStyle Properties by 592.0% in the third quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 1,626,963 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $116,068,000 after purchasing an additional 1,391,846 shares during the period. Caprock Group LLC acquired a new position in shares of Equity LifeStyle Properties in the third quarter valued at approximately $54,866,000. Finally, Quantinno Capital Management LP increased its stake in Equity LifeStyle Properties by 14,049.2% during the 3rd quarter. Quantinno Capital Management LP now owns 713,971 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $50,935,000 after buying an additional 708,925 shares during the period. 97.21% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

ELS has been the subject of several research reports. Robert W. Baird boosted their price target on shares of Equity LifeStyle Properties from $72.00 to $73.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 28th. Jefferies Financial Group raised Equity LifeStyle Properties from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their target price for the stock from $72.00 to $80.00 in a research note on Thursday, January 2nd. Royal Bank of Canada reduced 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 boosted their price objective for the stock from $66.00 to $73.00 in a research report on Tuesday, January 21st. Finally, 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. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, six have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Equity LifeStyle Properties presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $73.78.

Equity LifeStyle Properties Price Performance

Shares of ELS opened at $68.16 on Wednesday. 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 firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $66.40 and a 200-day simple moving average of $69.11. The company has a market capitalization of $13.03 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 34.96, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.02 and a beta of 0.79.

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

Equity LifeStyle Properties Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, April 11th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 28th will be given a dividend of $0.515 per share. This represents a $2.06 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.02%. This is an increase from Equity LifeStyle Properties’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.48. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 28th. Equity LifeStyle Properties’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 105.64%.

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.