Sophron Capital Management L.P. Takes Position in Equity LifeStyle Properties, Inc. (NYSE:ELS)

Sophron Capital Management L.P. bought a new position in shares of Equity LifeStyle Properties, Inc. (NYSE:ELS) during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor bought 45,191 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock, valued at approximately $3,010,000. Equity LifeStyle Properties makes up 1.2% of Sophron Capital Management L.P.’s portfolio, making the stock its 29th biggest position.

Other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB raised its stake in shares of Equity LifeStyle Properties by 43.5% during the fourth quarter. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB now owns 564 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $38,000 after acquiring an additional 171 shares during the last quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. raised its position in Equity LifeStyle Properties by 121.4% during the 4th 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. Carmel Capital Partners LLC raised its position in Equity LifeStyle Properties by 3.6% during the 4th quarter. Carmel Capital Partners LLC now owns 6,533 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $435,000 after purchasing an additional 230 shares during the last quarter. Corient Private Wealth LLC lifted its holdings in Equity LifeStyle Properties by 1.0% during the 4th quarter. Corient Private Wealth LLC now owns 22,861 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $1,523,000 after buying an additional 230 shares during the period. Finally, Quadrant Capital Group LLC grew its position in shares of Equity LifeStyle Properties by 7.7% in the 4th quarter. Quadrant Capital Group LLC now owns 3,256 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $217,000 after buying an additional 232 shares during the last quarter. 97.21% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Equity LifeStyle Properties Trading Up 1.7%

NYSE ELS opened at $64.89 on Monday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.03, a current ratio of 0.02 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15. Equity LifeStyle Properties, Inc. has a 52 week low of $58.86 and a 52 week high of $76.60. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $65.16 and a 200-day moving average price of $66.96. The company has a market cap of $12.41 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 33.27, a P/E/G ratio of 3.02 and a beta of 0.76.

Equity LifeStyle Properties (NYSE:ELS) last released its quarterly earnings data on Monday, April 21st. The real estate investment trust reported $0.83 earnings per share for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of $0.83. Equity LifeStyle Properties had a net margin of 24.05% and a return on equity of 23.12%. The firm had revenue of $327.21 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $391.34 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $0.59 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts expect that Equity LifeStyle Properties, Inc. will post 3.07 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Equity LifeStyle Properties Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared 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. The ex-dividend date is Friday, June 27th. This represents a $2.06 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.17%. Equity LifeStyle Properties’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 106.74%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Equity LifeStyle Properties

In related news, CFO Paul Seavey sold 10,000 shares of Equity LifeStyle Properties 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 transaction, 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 sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Company insiders own 1.40% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on ELS. Evercore ISI lowered their price objective on Equity LifeStyle Properties from $74.00 to $73.00 and set an “in-line” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, January 28th. BMO Capital Markets lowered their price target on shares of Equity LifeStyle Properties from $78.00 to $77.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, April 22nd. Royal Bank of Canada decreased their price objective on shares of Equity LifeStyle Properties from $69.00 to $68.00 and set a “sector perform” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, January 29th. Robert W. Baird boosted their target price on shares of Equity LifeStyle Properties from $72.00 to $73.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 28th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised Equity LifeStyle Properties from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their target price for the stock from $66.00 to $73.00 in a research note on Tuesday, January 21st. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, six have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average 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.