Bank of America Corp DE Reduces Position in Equity LifeStyle Properties, Inc. (NYSE:ELS)

Bank of America Corp DE lowered its stake in shares of Equity LifeStyle Properties, Inc. (NYSE:ELS - Free Report) by 6.9% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 1,488,347 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock after selling 110,877 shares during the period. Bank of America Corp DE owned about 0.78% of Equity LifeStyle Properties worth $99,124,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of ELS. National Pension Service purchased a new stake in Equity LifeStyle Properties during the 4th quarter valued at about $25,000. Bessemer Group Inc. boosted its holdings in Equity LifeStyle Properties by 121.4% in the 4th quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. now owns 383 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $25,000 after purchasing an additional 210 shares during the last quarter. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. acquired a new position in Equity LifeStyle Properties in the 4th quarter valued at about $30,000. Board of the Pension Protection Fund acquired a new position in Equity LifeStyle Properties in the 4th quarter valued at about $33,000. Finally, MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB boosted its holdings in 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 during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 97.21% of the company's stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CFO Paul Seavey sold 10,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, May 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $64.72, for a total value of $647,200.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 78,162 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,058,644.64. This represents a 11.34% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. 1.40% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts have weighed in on ELS shares. Truist Financial decreased their target price on shares of Equity LifeStyle Properties from $72.00 to $71.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, May 1st. BMO Capital Markets decreased their target price on shares of Equity LifeStyle Properties from $78.00 to $77.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, April 22nd. Royal Bank of Canada decreased their price objective on shares of Equity LifeStyle Properties from $69.00 to $68.00 and set a "sector perform" rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, January 29th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upgraded 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 report on Tuesday, January 21st. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group assumed coverage on shares of Equity LifeStyle Properties in a 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 assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $74.33.

Equity LifeStyle Properties Stock Down 0.5%

ELS traded down $0.30 during trading hours on Wednesday, hitting $62.30. 1,087,910 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,311,410. Equity LifeStyle Properties, Inc. has a 12-month low of $58.86 and a 12-month high of $76.60. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $65.32 and a 200 day moving average of $67.07. The firm has a market cap of $11.91 billion, a P/E ratio of 31.95, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.02 and a beta of 0.76. The company has a current ratio of 0.02, a quick ratio of 0.03 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15.

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

Equity LifeStyle Properties Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, July 11th. Stockholders of record on Friday, June 27th will be issued a $0.515 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, June 27th. This represents a $2.06 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.31%. Equity LifeStyle Properties's payout ratio is 106.74%.

Equity LifeStyle Properties 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.