Equity LifeStyle Properties, Inc. (NYSE:ELS) Stock Position Raised by Handelsbanken Fonder AB

Handelsbanken Fonder AB boosted its stake in shares of Equity LifeStyle Properties, Inc. (NYSE:ELS - Free Report) by 15.8% in the first quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 49,918 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock after acquiring an additional 6,800 shares during the quarter. Handelsbanken Fonder AB's holdings in Equity LifeStyle Properties were worth $3,330,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in ELS. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Equity LifeStyle Properties by 1.6% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 25,053,845 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $1,668,586,000 after buying an additional 388,888 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Equity LifeStyle Properties by 172.0% in the 4th quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 6,070,817 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $404,319,000 after buying an additional 3,838,809 shares during the period. Invesco Ltd. lifted its holdings in shares of Equity LifeStyle Properties by 592.7% in the 4th quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 3,918,241 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $260,955,000 after buying an additional 3,352,584 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in Equity LifeStyle Properties by 1.4% during the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 3,887,371 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $258,536,000 after purchasing an additional 53,775 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA raised its holdings in Equity LifeStyle Properties by 0.8% during the fourth quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 3,201,077 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $213,192,000 after purchasing an additional 23,837 shares during the last quarter. 97.21% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling at Equity LifeStyle Properties

In other news, CFO Paul Seavey sold 10,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred 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 completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 78,162 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $5,058,644.64. This represents a 11.34% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 1.40% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

ELS has been the subject of several research reports. Truist Financial reduced their price objective on Equity LifeStyle Properties from $72.00 to $71.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a report on Thursday, May 1st. 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 objective for the company. Barclays began coverage on Equity LifeStyle Properties in a research report on Thursday, May 29th. They set an "equal weight" rating and a $70.00 price target for the company. Finally, BMO Capital Markets reduced their price objective on Equity LifeStyle Properties from $78.00 to $77.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, April 22nd. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, six have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Equity LifeStyle Properties presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $73.90.

Equity LifeStyle Properties Stock Down 0.9%

Shares of ELS traded down $0.56 during midday trading on Monday, reaching $61.81. 1,129,686 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,326,520. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $63.80 and a 200-day moving average price of $65.83. The company has a market cap of $11.82 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.69, a P/E/G ratio of 3.02 and a beta of 0.73. Equity LifeStyle Properties, Inc. has a 1-year low of $58.86 and a 1-year high of $76.60. 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 issued its quarterly earnings data on Monday, April 21st. The real estate investment trust reported $0.83 EPS for the quarter, hitting analysts' consensus estimates 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 posted $0.59 earnings per share. Research analysts expect that Equity LifeStyle Properties, Inc. will post 3.07 earnings per share for the current year.

Equity LifeStyle Properties Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, July 11th. Shareholders of record on Friday, June 27th will be paid a dividend of $0.515 per share. This represents a $2.06 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.33%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, June 27th. Equity LifeStyle Properties's payout ratio is currently 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.