Equity LifeStyle Properties, Inc. (NYSE:ELS) Sees Large Increase in Short Interest

Equity LifeStyle Properties, Inc. (NYSE:ELS) saw a large increase in short interest during the month of September. As of September 30th, there was short interest totalling 3,930,000 shares, an increase of 8.6% from the September 15th total of 3,620,000 shares. Currently, 2.2% of the company’s stock are short sold. Based on an average daily volume of 1,140,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 3.4 days.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages have recently issued reports on ELS. Evercore ISI raised their price target on Equity LifeStyle Properties from $73.00 to $76.00 and gave the company an “in-line” rating in a research report on Monday, September 16th. UBS Group upgraded Equity LifeStyle Properties to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 10th. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed a “sector perform” rating and set a $68.00 price objective on shares of Equity LifeStyle Properties in a report on Wednesday, July 24th. Truist Financial lifted their target price on shares of Equity LifeStyle Properties from $65.00 to $70.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 30th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company raised shares of Equity LifeStyle Properties from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and increased their price target for the stock from $70.50 to $82.00 in a research report on Thursday, September 19th. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, three have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $71.44.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, COO Patrick Waite sold 20,820 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $70.23, for a total value of $1,462,188.60. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer now owns 221,777 shares in the company, valued at approximately $15,575,398.71. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. In related news, CEO Marguerite M. Nader sold 33,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, September 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $75.52, for a total value of $2,492,160.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 260,936 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $19,705,886.72. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, COO Patrick Waite sold 20,820 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $70.23, for a total value of $1,462,188.60. Following the sale, the chief operating officer now directly owns 221,777 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $15,575,398.71. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 85,808 shares of company stock valued at $6,348,011 in the last three months. Insiders own 1.40% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several large investors have recently bought and sold shares of ELS. V Square Quantitative Management LLC raised its position in shares of Equity LifeStyle Properties by 31.3% during the third quarter. V Square Quantitative Management LLC now owns 613 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $44,000 after acquiring an additional 146 shares during the last quarter. Johnson Investment Counsel Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Equity LifeStyle Properties by 0.6% in the 2nd quarter. Johnson Investment Counsel Inc. now owns 26,792 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $1,745,000 after purchasing an additional 152 shares during the last quarter. Toronto Dominion Bank grew its position in shares of Equity LifeStyle Properties by 0.9% during the 2nd quarter. Toronto Dominion Bank now owns 16,974 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $1,106,000 after buying an additional 154 shares during the period. Wellington Management Group LLP raised its stake in shares of Equity LifeStyle Properties by 0.3% during the fourth quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 59,874 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $4,224,000 after buying an additional 155 shares during the last quarter. Finally, LRI Investments LLC lifted its holdings in Equity LifeStyle Properties by 8.7% in the second quarter. LRI Investments LLC now owns 2,132 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $139,000 after buying an additional 171 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 97.21% of the company’s stock.

Equity LifeStyle Properties Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:ELS traded up $0.13 during trading on Thursday, reaching $70.14. The stock had a trading volume of 1,220,408 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,200,842. The stock has a market capitalization of $13.08 billion, a PE ratio of 38.13, a P/E/G ratio of 3.60 and a beta of 0.79. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.34, a current ratio of 0.03 and a quick ratio of 0.03. Equity LifeStyle Properties has a 52 week low of $59.82 and a 52 week high of $76.60. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $71.36 and its 200 day moving average price is $66.58.

Equity LifeStyle Properties (NYSE:ELS) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Monday, July 22nd. The real estate investment trust reported $0.42 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.65 by ($0.23). Equity LifeStyle Properties had a return on equity of 23.71% and a net margin of 23.56%. The company had revenue of $380.00 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $334.53 million. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $0.66 EPS. The firm’s revenue was up 2.7% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts predict that Equity LifeStyle Properties will post 2.92 earnings per share for the current year.

Equity LifeStyle Properties Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, October 11th. Investors of record on Friday, September 27th were issued a $0.4775 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, September 27th. This represents a $1.91 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.72%. This is a positive change from Equity LifeStyle Properties’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.48. Equity LifeStyle Properties’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 104.37%.

About Equity LifeStyle Properties

We are a self-administered, self-managed real estate investment trust (REIT) with headquarters in Chicago. As of January 29, 2024, we own or have an interest in 451 properties in 35 states and British Columbia consisting of 172,465 sites.