AQR Capital Management LLC Grows Position in Equity LifeStyle Properties, Inc. (NYSE:ELS)

AQR Capital Management LLC grew its position in shares of Equity LifeStyle Properties, Inc. (NYSE:ELS - Free Report) by 138.1% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 128,459 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock after purchasing an additional 74,513 shares during the period. AQR Capital Management LLC owned approximately 0.07% of Equity LifeStyle Properties worth $8,548,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Empowered Funds LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Equity LifeStyle Properties during the fourth quarter worth approximately $380,000. Vert Asset Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Equity LifeStyle Properties by 9.8% during the 4th quarter. Vert Asset Management LLC now owns 79,516 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $5,296,000 after acquiring an additional 7,092 shares in the last quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB lifted its holdings in Equity LifeStyle Properties by 6.4% in the 4th quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 21,574 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $1,432,000 after buying an additional 1,301 shares in the last quarter. Lecap Asset Management Ltd. increased its position in shares of Equity LifeStyle Properties by 185.8% in the 4th quarter. Lecap Asset Management Ltd. now owns 24,882 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $1,657,000 after purchasing an additional 16,176 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Van ECK Associates Corp raised its position in shares of Equity LifeStyle Properties by 0.9% during the 4th quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 82,239 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $5,477,000 after acquiring an additional 759 shares in the last quarter. 97.21% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts recently weighed in on ELS shares. Robert W. Baird upped their price objective on shares of 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 reduced their target price on shares of Equity LifeStyle Properties from $74.00 to $73.00 and set an "in-line" rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, January 28th. Royal Bank of Canada reduced their price target on shares of 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 upgraded shares of Equity LifeStyle Properties from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and increased their price objective for the company from $66.00 to $73.00 in a report on Tuesday, January 21st. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group initiated coverage on shares of Equity LifeStyle Properties in a research report on Tuesday, April 8th. They issued a "buy" rating and a $80.00 price objective on the stock. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, six have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Equity LifeStyle Properties presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $74.33.

Insider Activity at Equity LifeStyle Properties

In other Equity LifeStyle Properties news, CFO Paul Seavey sold 10,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, May 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $64.72, for a total transaction of $647,200.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 78,162 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $5,058,644.64. This trade represents a 11.34% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. 1.40% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Equity LifeStyle Properties Stock Performance

Equity LifeStyle Properties stock traded down $1.28 during mid-day trading on Monday, reaching $63.04. 209,973 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,304,479. The business's 50-day moving average is $65.64 and its 200-day moving average is $67.18. The stock has a market capitalization of $12.05 billion, a PE ratio of 32.20, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.02 and a beta of 0.76. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15, a current ratio of 0.02 and a quick ratio of 0.03. Equity LifeStyle Properties, Inc. has a 12-month low of $58.86 and a 12-month high of $76.60.

Equity LifeStyle Properties (NYSE:ELS - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Monday, April 21st. The real estate investment trust reported $0.83 EPS for the quarter, meeting analysts' consensus estimates of $0.83. The firm had revenue of $327.21 million for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $391.34 million. Equity LifeStyle Properties had a return on equity of 23.12% and a net margin of 24.05%. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $0.59 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Equity LifeStyle Properties, Inc. will post 3.07 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Equity LifeStyle Properties Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, July 11th. Stockholders of record on Friday, June 27th will be paid a dividend of $0.515 per share. This represents a $2.06 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.27%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, June 27th. Equity LifeStyle Properties's payout ratio is 106.74%.

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.