Freestone Grove Partners LP Buys New Shares in Equity LifeStyle Properties, Inc. (NYSE:ELS)

Freestone Grove Partners LP acquired a new position in shares of Equity LifeStyle Properties, Inc. (NYSE:ELS - Free Report) during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor acquired 8,477 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock, valued at approximately $565,000.

Other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the company. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB acquired a new stake in Equity LifeStyle Properties in the 3rd quarter valued at about $72,000. Franklin Resources Inc. raised its position in shares of Equity LifeStyle Properties by 7.9% during the third quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 809,801 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $55,034,000 after acquiring an additional 59,243 shares during the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Equity LifeStyle Properties by 56.5% during the third quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 2,232,008 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $159,232,000 after acquiring an additional 805,681 shares during the period. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased its position in Equity LifeStyle Properties by 3.2% in the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 4,761,879 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $339,713,000 after purchasing an additional 147,332 shares during the period. Finally, GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its position in Equity LifeStyle Properties by 23.3% during the 4th quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,763 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $117,000 after purchasing an additional 333 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 97.21% of the company's stock.

Insider Activity

In other news, CFO Paul Seavey sold 10,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated 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 sale, the chief financial officer now 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 sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Insiders own 1.40% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upgraded Equity LifeStyle Properties from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and raised their price target for the stock from $66.00 to $73.00 in a research report on Tuesday, January 21st. Evercore ISI decreased their price objective on shares of Equity LifeStyle Properties from $74.00 to $73.00 and set an "in-line" rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, January 28th. BMO Capital Markets lowered their target price 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. Royal Bank of Canada reduced their price target on shares of 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, Robert W. Baird upped their price objective on shares of Equity LifeStyle Properties from $72.00 to $73.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 28th. Three 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. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $74.33.

Equity LifeStyle Properties Price Performance

Shares of NYSE ELS traded up $0.62 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $64.35. The company had a trading volume of 330,702 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,301,914. The firm has a market cap of $12.30 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 33.00, a PEG ratio of 3.02 and a beta of 0.76. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15, a quick ratio of 0.03 and a current ratio of 0.02. Equity LifeStyle Properties, Inc. has a one year low of $58.86 and a one year high of $76.60. The business's 50-day simple moving average is $65.72 and its 200 day simple moving average is $67.25.

Equity LifeStyle Properties (NYSE:ELS - Get Free Report) last posted 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 firm 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 quarter in the prior year, the business earned $0.59 earnings per share. On average, research analysts predict that Equity LifeStyle Properties, Inc. will post 3.07 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Equity LifeStyle Properties Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, July 11th. Stockholders of record on Friday, June 27th will be issued a dividend of $0.515 per share. This represents a $2.06 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.20%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, June 27th. Equity LifeStyle Properties's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 106.74%.

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.