Jefferies Financial Group Inc. Trims Stake in Equity LifeStyle Properties, Inc. (NYSE:ELS)

Jefferies Financial Group Inc. lowered its position in Equity LifeStyle Properties, Inc. (NYSE:ELS - Free Report) by 24.3% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 76,620 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock after selling 24,610 shares during the period. Jefferies Financial Group Inc.'s holdings in Equity LifeStyle Properties were worth $5,103,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in ELS. National Pension Service bought a new position in Equity LifeStyle Properties in the fourth quarter worth approximately $25,000. Bessemer Group Inc. raised its stake in shares of Equity LifeStyle Properties by 121.4% in the fourth quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. now owns 383 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $25,000 after purchasing an additional 210 shares during the last quarter. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. bought a new position in shares of Equity LifeStyle Properties in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $30,000. SRS Capital Advisors Inc. bought a new position in shares of Equity LifeStyle Properties in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $73,000. Finally, Signaturefd LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Equity LifeStyle Properties by 32.9% in the fourth quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 1,854 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $123,000 after purchasing an additional 459 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 97.21% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Truist Financial dropped their target price 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. 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. Jefferies Financial Group assumed 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. Robert W. Baird lifted their price target on Equity LifeStyle Properties from $72.00 to $73.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Tuesday, January 28th. Finally, Evercore ISI dropped their price target on Equity LifeStyle Properties from $74.00 to $73.00 and set an "in-line" rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, January 28th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, six have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $74.33.

Insider Activity

In other news, CFO Paul Seavey sold 10,000 shares of Equity LifeStyle Properties stock in a transaction on Wednesday, May 7th. The stock was 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 directly owns 78,162 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,058,644.64. The trade was a 11.34% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 0.70% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Equity LifeStyle Properties Stock Performance

Shares of ELS traded down $1.20 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, hitting $63.14. The stock had a trading volume of 2,320,725 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,309,331. The firm has a market cap of $12.07 billion, a P/E ratio of 32.38, a PEG ratio of 3.02 and a beta of 0.76. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $64.57 and a 200-day moving average price of $66.69. 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 52 week low of $58.86 and a 52 week high of $76.60.

Equity LifeStyle Properties (NYSE:ELS - Get Free Report) last issued 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 firm had revenue of $327.21 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates 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 period in the previous year, the company posted $0.59 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts expect that Equity LifeStyle Properties, Inc. will post 3.07 EPS for the current year.

Equity LifeStyle Properties Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, July 11th. Shareholders of record on Friday, June 27th will be paid a $0.515 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, June 27th. This represents a $2.06 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.26%. Equity LifeStyle Properties's payout ratio 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.