Equity LifeStyle Properties, Inc. (NYSE:ELS) Sees Large Growth in Short Interest

Equity LifeStyle Properties, Inc. (NYSE:ELS) saw a significant increase in short interest during the month of September. As of September 30th, there was short interest totalling 3,930,000 shares, an increase 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 days-to-cover ratio is currently 3.4 days.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, COO Patrick Waite sold 20,820 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $70.23, for a total value of $1,462,188.60. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer now owns 221,777 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $15,575,398.71. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. In other news, 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 in the company, valued at approximately $15,575,398.71. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, CFO Paul Seavey sold 31,988 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, September 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $74.83, for a total transaction of $2,393,662.04. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 148,463 shares in the company, valued at approximately $11,109,486.29. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 85,808 shares of company stock valued at $6,348,011 over the last 90 days. 1.40% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Equity LifeStyle Properties

A number of hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of ELS. V Square Quantitative Management LLC boosted its stake 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. Johnson Investment Counsel Inc. grew its stake in Equity LifeStyle Properties by 0.6% in the 2nd quarter. Johnson Investment Counsel Inc. now owns 26,792 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $1,745,000 after purchasing an additional 152 shares during the period. Toronto Dominion Bank increased its position in shares of Equity LifeStyle Properties by 0.9% during the 2nd quarter. Toronto Dominion Bank now owns 16,974 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $1,106,000 after purchasing an additional 154 shares during the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP increased its position in shares of Equity LifeStyle Properties by 0.3% during the 4th quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 59,874 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $4,224,000 after purchasing an additional 155 shares during the last quarter. Finally, LRI Investments LLC raised its stake in shares of Equity LifeStyle Properties by 8.7% during the 2nd quarter. LRI Investments LLC now owns 2,132 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $139,000 after purchasing an additional 171 shares during the period. 97.21% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Equity LifeStyle Properties Stock Up 0.2 %

ELS traded up $0.13 during trading on Thursday, hitting $70.14. 1,220,408 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,200,842. Equity LifeStyle Properties has a fifty-two week low of $59.82 and a fifty-two week high of $76.60. The stock has a market cap of $13.08 billion, a P/E ratio of 38.13, a PEG ratio of 3.60 and a beta of 0.79. The business’s 50 day moving average is $71.36 and its two-hundred day moving average is $66.58. The company has a quick ratio of 0.03, a current ratio of 0.03 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.34.

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). The business had revenue of $380.00 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $334.53 million. Equity LifeStyle Properties had a return on equity of 23.71% and a net margin of 23.56%. The company’s revenue was up 2.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $0.66 EPS. As a group, equities analysts expect that Equity LifeStyle Properties will post 2.92 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Equity LifeStyle Properties Increases Dividend

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

Analysts Set New Price Targets

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

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.