Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Public School Empls Retrmt SYS Buys 24,585 Shares of Equity Lifestyle Properties, Inc. $ELS

Key Points

• Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Public School Empls Retrmt SYS boosted its stake in Equity Lifestyle Properties by 22.1% in the first quarter, buying 24,585 additional shares and bringing its total to 135,927 shares worth about $8.5 million.
• Several other hedge funds also increased their positions, and institutional investors now own 97.21% of the REIT’s stock, showing broad institutional interest in ELS.
• Analysts remain mixed but generally positive: the consensus rating is Moderate Buy with a $68.92 price target, while the stock recently traded around $65 after the company reported earnings that missed estimates despite slightly higher revenue.

Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Public School Empls Retrmt SYS increased its stake in shares of Equity Lifestyle Properties, Inc. (NYSE:ELS - Free Report) by 22.1% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 135,927 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock after purchasing an additional 24,585 shares during the quarter. Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Public School Empls Retrmt SYS owned approximately 0.07% of Equity Lifestyle Properties worth $8,485,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Fermata Advisors LLC grew its holdings in Equity Lifestyle Properties by 471.9% during the 4th quarter. Fermata Advisors LLC now owns 33,933 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $2,057,000 after acquiring an additional 28,000 shares during the last quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. increased its position in Equity Lifestyle Properties by 11.5% in the 4th quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 337,948 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $20,206,000 after acquiring an additional 34,946 shares during the period. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans raised its stake in shares of Equity Lifestyle Properties by 1,104.7% during the fourth quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans now owns 673,072 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $40,794,000 after acquiring an additional 617,202 shares during the last quarter. Swiss Life Asset Management Ltd raised its stake in shares of Equity Lifestyle Properties by 232.3% during the third quarter. Swiss Life Asset Management Ltd now owns 56,617 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $3,437,000 after acquiring an additional 39,580 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Legal & General Group Plc lifted its holdings in shares of Equity Lifestyle Properties by 13.4% during the fourth quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 1,365,902 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $82,787,000 after purchasing an additional 161,210 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 97.21% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

ELS has been the topic of several analyst reports. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised shares of Equity Lifestyle Properties from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $72.00 price objective on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, April 15th. Zelman & Associates assumed coverage on Equity Lifestyle Properties in a report on Monday, March 16th. They set an "underperform" rating and a $59.25 target price on the stock. Odeon Capital Group set a $65.00 price target on Equity Lifestyle Properties in a research report on Thursday. Weiss Ratings upgraded Equity Lifestyle Properties from a "hold (c)" rating to a "hold (c+)" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 2nd. Finally, Mizuho assumed coverage on Equity Lifestyle Properties in a research note on Tuesday, March 31st. They issued an "outperform" rating and a $72.00 price target for the company. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nine have given a Buy rating, seven have issued a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $68.92.

Equity Lifestyle Properties Stock Up 2.4%

Shares of NYSE ELS opened at $65.00 on Tuesday. The company's 50 day moving average price is $63.25 and its 200-day moving average price is $63.93. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29, a quick ratio of 0.04 and a current ratio of 0.04. Equity Lifestyle Properties, Inc. has a 52-week low of $58.15 and a 52-week high of $69.00. The company has a market capitalization of $12.61 billion, a P/E ratio of 32.50, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.86 and a beta of 0.66.

Equity Lifestyle Properties (NYSE:ELS - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 22nd. The real estate investment trust reported $0.56 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.84 by ($0.28). Equity Lifestyle Properties had a return on equity of 21.22% and a net margin of 24.99%.The firm had revenue of $397.62 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $395.71 million. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $0.57 earnings per share. The company's quarterly revenue was up 2.7% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts forecast that Equity Lifestyle Properties, Inc. will post 3.18 earnings per share for the current year.

Equity Lifestyle Properties Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, July 10th. Shareholders of record on Friday, June 26th were issued a dividend of $0.5425 per share. This represents a $2.17 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.3%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, June 26th. Equity Lifestyle Properties's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 108.50%.

Equity Lifestyle Properties Profile

Equity Lifestyle Properties, Inc NYSE: ELS is a publicly traded real estate investment trust specializing in the acquisition, development, ownership and operation of manufactured home communities and recreational vehicle resorts. The company's portfolio includes more than 450 properties across the United States and Canada, serving over 200,000 residents and visitors. ELS organizes its operations into two primary segments: manufactured housing communities, which provide long-term housing solutions, and upscale RV and seasonal resorts designed for leisure travelers and seasonal patrons.

In its manufactured home division, ELS offers home-site leases combined with community amenities such as landscaped common areas, clubhouses, swimming pools and organized resident events.

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