Canada Pension Plan Investment Board Cuts Stake in Equity LifeStyle Properties, Inc. (NYSE:ELS)

Canada Pension Plan Investment Board reduced its stake in Equity LifeStyle Properties, Inc. (NYSE:ELS - Free Report) by 3.1% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 1,425,375 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock after selling 45,600 shares during the period. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board owned 0.75% of Equity LifeStyle Properties worth $94,930,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of ELS. National Pension Service purchased a new position in Equity LifeStyle Properties during the 4th quarter valued at about $25,000. Bessemer Group Inc. increased its stake in shares of Equity LifeStyle Properties by 121.4% during the fourth 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 in the last quarter. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Equity LifeStyle Properties during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $30,000. Board of the Pension Protection Fund bought a new stake in shares of Equity LifeStyle Properties in the 4th quarter worth approximately $33,000. Finally, MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB grew its stake 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 worth $38,000 after buying an additional 171 shares during the last quarter. 97.21% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

ELS has been the topic of several analyst reports. Royal Bank of Canada dropped their target price on 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. Jefferies Financial Group began coverage on shares of Equity LifeStyle Properties in a research report on Tuesday, April 8th. They set a "buy" rating and a $80.00 price objective on the stock. Evercore ISI decreased 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 report on Tuesday, January 28th. Robert W. Baird increased their target price on Equity LifeStyle Properties from $72.00 to $73.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 28th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised Equity LifeStyle Properties from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and lifted their target price for the stock from $66.00 to $73.00 in a report on Tuesday, January 21st. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $74.10.

Equity LifeStyle Properties Stock Performance

Equity LifeStyle Properties stock traded down $1.82 during trading on Wednesday, reaching $61.87. The company had a trading volume of 1,002,399 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,296,693. The firm has a market capitalization of $11.83 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.73, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.02 and a beta of 0.72. The company has a current ratio of 0.02, a quick ratio of 0.03 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15. The firm's 50-day simple moving average is $66.38 and its 200 day simple moving average is $67.59. Equity LifeStyle Properties, Inc. has a 52 week low of $58.86 and a 52 week high of $76.60.

Equity LifeStyle Properties (NYSE:ELS - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Monday, April 21st. The real estate investment trust reported $0.83 EPS for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of $0.83. The firm had revenue of $327.21 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate 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 last year, the company earned $0.59 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts forecast that Equity LifeStyle Properties, Inc. will post 3.07 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Equity LifeStyle Properties Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, April 11th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 28th were given a dividend of $0.515 per share. This represents a $2.06 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.33%. This is an increase from Equity LifeStyle Properties's previous quarterly dividend of $0.48. The ex-dividend date was Friday, March 28th. Equity LifeStyle Properties's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 106.74%.

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.