Fjarde AP Fonden Fourth Swedish National Pension Fund Trims Stake in Equity Lifestyle Properties, Inc. $ELS

Fjarde AP Fonden Fourth Swedish National Pension Fund decreased its stake in shares of Equity Lifestyle Properties, Inc. (NYSE:ELS) by 95.4% in the 1st quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 3,339 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after selling 68,700 shares during the quarter. Fjarde AP Fonden Fourth Swedish National Pension Fund’s holdings in Equity Lifestyle Properties were worth $208,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in ELS. Empowered Funds LLC raised its stake in Equity Lifestyle Properties by 14.1% in the 1st quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 6,516 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $435,000 after purchasing an additional 804 shares during the last quarter. Jane Street Group LLC lifted its stake in shares of Equity Lifestyle Properties by 598.5% during the 1st quarter. Jane Street Group LLC now owns 119,397 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $7,964,000 after purchasing an additional 102,303 shares during the period. Intech Investment Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Equity Lifestyle Properties by 62.3% during the first quarter. Intech Investment Management LLC now owns 23,114 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $1,542,000 after purchasing an additional 8,873 shares during the last quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers increased its stake in Equity Lifestyle Properties by 111.0% in the second quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers now owns 10,122 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $624,000 after purchasing an additional 5,325 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Gamco Investors INC. ET AL purchased a new position in Equity Lifestyle Properties during the second quarter worth about $300,000. 97.21% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

ELS has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Weiss Ratings raised shares of Equity Lifestyle Properties from a “hold (c)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a research note on Thursday. Mizuho started coverage on shares of Equity Lifestyle Properties in a research note on Tuesday, March 31st. They set an “outperform” rating and a $72.00 price target on the stock. Robert W. Baird boosted their price objective on shares of Equity Lifestyle Properties from $73.00 to $74.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 22nd. Barclays dropped their price objective on Equity Lifestyle Properties from $71.00 to $68.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Monday, May 11th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upgraded Equity Lifestyle Properties from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $72.00 target price on the stock in a report on Wednesday, April 15th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nine have issued a Buy rating, six have given a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $69.20.

Equity Lifestyle Properties Stock Down 1.9%

Shares of NYSE ELS opened at $64.99 on Tuesday. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $63.12 and a 200 day moving average price of $63.84. The company has a current ratio of 0.04, a quick ratio of 0.04 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29. Equity Lifestyle Properties, Inc. has a 12-month low of $58.15 and a 12-month high of $69.00. The company has a market cap of $12.60 billion, a P/E ratio of 32.50, a P/E/G ratio of 4.03 and a beta of 0.66.

Equity Lifestyle Properties (NYSE:ELS) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, April 22nd. The real estate investment trust reported $0.56 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.84 by ($0.28). Equity Lifestyle Properties had a return on equity of 21.22% and a net margin of 24.99%.The company had revenue of $397.62 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $395.71 million. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $0.57 EPS. Equity Lifestyle Properties’s quarterly revenue was up 2.7% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts anticipate that Equity Lifestyle Properties, Inc. will post 3.18 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Equity Lifestyle Properties Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, July 10th. Stockholders of record on Friday, June 26th will be paid a dividend of $0.5425 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, June 26th. This represents a $2.17 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.3%. Equity Lifestyle Properties’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 108.50%.

Equity Lifestyle Properties Profile

Equity Lifestyle Properties, Inc (NYSE: ELS) is a publicly traded real estate investment trust specializing in the acquisition, development, ownership and operation of manufactured home communities and recreational vehicle resorts. The company’s portfolio includes more than 450 properties across the United States and Canada, serving over 200,000 residents and visitors. ELS organizes its operations into two primary segments: manufactured housing communities, which provide long-term housing solutions, and upscale RV and seasonal resorts designed for leisure travelers and seasonal patrons.

In its manufactured home division, ELS offers home-site leases combined with community amenities such as landscaped common areas, clubhouses, swimming pools and organized resident events.