Westwood Holdings Group Inc. Purchases 14,642 Shares of Equity LifeStyle Properties, Inc. (NYSE:ELS)

Westwood Holdings Group Inc. lifted its position in shares of Equity LifeStyle Properties, Inc. (NYSE:ELS - Free Report) by 8.6% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 185,168 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock after buying an additional 14,642 shares during the quarter. Westwood Holdings Group Inc. owned approximately 0.10% of Equity LifeStyle Properties worth $12,332,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Empowered Funds LLC bought a new position in Equity LifeStyle Properties during the 4th quarter worth about $380,000. Vert Asset Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Equity LifeStyle Properties by 9.8% during the fourth quarter. Vert Asset Management LLC now owns 79,516 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $5,296,000 after purchasing an additional 7,092 shares in the last quarter. Lecap Asset Management Ltd. boosted its stake in shares of Equity LifeStyle Properties by 185.8% during the fourth quarter. Lecap Asset Management Ltd. now owns 24,882 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $1,657,000 after purchasing an additional 16,176 shares in the last quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp boosted its stake in shares of Equity LifeStyle Properties by 0.9% during the fourth quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 82,239 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $5,477,000 after purchasing an additional 759 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Avanza Fonder AB bought a new position in shares of Equity LifeStyle Properties during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $917,000. Institutional investors own 97.21% of the company's stock.

Equity LifeStyle Properties Price Performance

Shares of NYSE ELS opened at $65.37 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15, a quick ratio of 0.03 and a current ratio of 0.02. The company has a market cap of $12.50 billion, a PE ratio of 33.52, a P/E/G ratio of 3.02 and a beta of 0.76. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $65.13 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $66.94. Equity LifeStyle Properties, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $58.86 and a fifty-two week high of $76.60.

Equity LifeStyle Properties (NYSE:ELS - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results 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 during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $391.34 million. Equity LifeStyle Properties had a net margin of 24.05% and a return on equity of 23.12%. During the same period last year, the business earned $0.59 EPS. As a group, equities analysts expect that Equity LifeStyle Properties, Inc. will post 3.07 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Equity LifeStyle Properties Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, July 11th. Stockholders of record on Friday, June 27th will be paid a dividend of $0.515 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, June 27th. This represents a $2.06 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.15%. Equity LifeStyle Properties's payout ratio is currently 106.74%.

Insider Transactions at Equity LifeStyle Properties

In related news, CFO Paul Seavey sold 10,000 shares of Equity LifeStyle Properties stock in a transaction dated 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 sale, the chief financial officer now owns 78,162 shares of the company's stock, valued at $5,058,644.64. The trade was a 11.34% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Insiders own 1.40% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

ELS has been the topic of several recent research reports. Robert W. Baird increased their target price on Equity LifeStyle Properties from $72.00 to $73.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 28th. BMO Capital Markets dropped 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. Truist Financial dropped their price objective on Equity LifeStyle Properties from $72.00 to $71.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. Royal Bank of Canada dropped their price objective on Equity LifeStyle Properties from $69.00 to $68.00 and set a "sector perform" rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, January 29th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upgraded shares of Equity LifeStyle Properties from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and raised their price target for the company from $66.00 to $73.00 in a report on Tuesday, January 21st. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, six have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $74.33.

Equity LifeStyle Properties Profile

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.

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