KLP Kapitalforvaltning AS Lowers Stake in Equity Lifestyle Properties, Inc. (NYSE:ELS)

Key Points

• KLP Kapitalforvaltning AS sold 6,300 shares of Equity Lifestyle Properties, Inc., reducing its stake by 10.4% to a total of 54,500 shares, valued at approximately $3.66 million.
• Despite KLP's reduction, institutional investors own 97.21% of the company's stock, highlighting strong institutional interest in Equity Lifestyle Properties.
• The company declared a quarterly dividend of $0.515 per share, reflecting a dividend yield of 3.46%, with a payout ratio currently at 106.74%.

KLP Kapitalforvaltning AS cut its holdings in Equity Lifestyle Properties, Inc. (NYSE:ELS - Free Report) by 10.4% in the first quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 54,500 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock after selling 6,300 shares during the quarter. KLP Kapitalforvaltning AS's holdings in Equity Lifestyle Properties were worth $3,659,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in ELS. Principal Financial Group Inc. increased its holdings in Equity Lifestyle Properties by 4.6% in the 1st quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 6,349,010 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $423,479,000 after acquiring an additional 278,193 shares in the last quarter. QRG Capital Management Inc. increased its stake in shares of Equity Lifestyle Properties by 11.1% during the first quarter. QRG Capital Management Inc. now owns 11,602 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $774,000 after purchasing an additional 1,162 shares in the last quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of Equity Lifestyle Properties by 78.7% during the first quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 1,442 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $96,000 after purchasing an additional 635 shares in the last quarter. Dupont Capital Management Corp increased its stake in shares of Equity Lifestyle Properties by 33.8% during the first quarter. Dupont Capital Management Corp now owns 145,004 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $9,672,000 after purchasing an additional 36,655 shares in the last quarter. Finally, KBC Group NV increased its stake in Equity Lifestyle Properties by 3.2% during the 1st quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 145,262 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $9,689,000 after buying an additional 4,450 shares in the last quarter. 97.21% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Equity Lifestyle Properties Trading Up 1.3%

Shares of ELS traded up $0.75 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, reaching $59.18. The stock had a trading volume of 210,389 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,479,893. The business's fifty day moving average is $62.36 and its 200 day moving average is $64.62. Equity Lifestyle Properties, Inc. has a 52-week low of $58.31 and a 52-week high of $76.60. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.24, a current ratio of 0.04 and a quick ratio of 0.03. The firm has a market cap of $11.31 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 30.65, a P/E/G ratio of 3.22 and a beta of 0.72.

Equity Lifestyle Properties (NYSE:ELS - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Monday, July 21st. The real estate investment trust reported $0.69 earnings per share for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of $0.69. The company had revenue of $313.29 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $377.59 million. Equity Lifestyle Properties had a return on equity of 21.12% and a net margin of 24.13%. The firm's revenue for the quarter was down .8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $0.66 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Equity Lifestyle Properties, Inc. will post 3.07 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts have recently issued reports on ELS shares. Jefferies Financial Group started coverage on shares of Equity Lifestyle Properties in a report on Tuesday, April 8th. They set a "buy" rating and a $80.00 target price for the company. Barclays raised shares of Equity Lifestyle Properties from an "equal weight" rating to an "overweight" rating and dropped their price objective for the company from $70.00 to $67.00 in a research note on Tuesday. Compass Point raised shares of Equity Lifestyle Properties from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating and set a $72.00 price objective for the company in a research note on Tuesday, July 22nd. BMO Capital Markets dropped their price objective on shares of Equity Lifestyle Properties from $78.00 to $77.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, April 22nd. Finally, Morgan Stanley assumed coverage on Equity Lifestyle Properties in a research report on Tuesday, July 15th. They issued a "positive" rating and a $67.50 price target for the company. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nine 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 currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $71.77.

Insider Buying and Selling at Equity Lifestyle Properties

In other news, CFO Paul Seavey sold 10,000 shares of the 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 completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer directly owned 78,162 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,058,644.64. This represents a 11.34% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 0.70% 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.