Barclays Initiates Coverage on Equity LifeStyle Properties (NYSE:ELS)

Stock analysts at Barclays assumed coverage on shares of Equity LifeStyle Properties (NYSE:ELS - Get Free Report) in a note issued to investors on Thursday, MarketBeat.com reports. The brokerage set an "equal weight" rating and a $70.00 price target on the real estate investment trust's stock. Barclays's target price would indicate a potential upside of 10.05% from the company's current price.

ELS has been the topic of a number of other reports. Truist Financial dropped their price target on Equity LifeStyle Properties from $72.00 to $71.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, May 1st. Jefferies Financial Group began coverage on Equity LifeStyle Properties in a report on Tuesday, April 8th. They set a "buy" rating and a $80.00 price target on the stock. BMO Capital Markets dropped their price target on Equity LifeStyle Properties from $78.00 to $77.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, April 22nd. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada dropped their price target 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. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, six have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Equity LifeStyle Properties presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $73.90.

Equity LifeStyle Properties Stock Up 1.0%

Shares of NYSE:ELS traded up $0.66 during mid-day trading on Thursday, hitting $63.61. 1,872,190 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,323,813. The stock has a market cap of $12.16 billion, a P/E ratio of 32.62, a P/E/G 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 has a 12-month low of $58.86 and a 12-month high of $76.60. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $64.40 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $66.56.

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 (EPS) for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate of $0.83. The company 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 previous year, the firm earned $0.59 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Equity LifeStyle Properties will post 3.07 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Activity

In other news, CFO Paul Seavey sold 10,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, May 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $64.72, for a total transaction of $647,200.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 78,162 shares of the company's stock, valued at $5,058,644.64. This represents a 11.34% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Insiders own 0.70% of the company's stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised its stake in shares of Equity LifeStyle Properties by 3.2% during the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 4,761,879 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $339,713,000 after purchasing an additional 147,332 shares during the period. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Equity LifeStyle Properties during the 4th quarter valued at $30,000. Kingswood Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Equity LifeStyle Properties during the 4th quarter valued at $203,000. Blue Trust Inc. raised its stake in shares of Equity LifeStyle Properties by 36.1% during the 4th quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 1,758 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $125,000 after purchasing an additional 466 shares during the period. Finally, Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. raised its stake in shares of Equity LifeStyle Properties by 3.2% during the 4th quarter. Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. now owns 178,118 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $11,863,000 after purchasing an additional 5,500 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 97.21% of the company's stock.

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.