American Century Companies Inc. Sells 338,490 Shares of Equity LifeStyle Properties, Inc. (NYSE:ELS)

American Century Companies Inc. lowered its position in shares of Equity LifeStyle Properties, Inc. (NYSE:ELS) by 85.3% during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 58,114 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after selling 338,490 shares during the period. American Century Companies Inc.’s holdings in Equity LifeStyle Properties were worth $3,870,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB lifted its stake in shares of Equity LifeStyle Properties by 43.5% during the 4th quarter. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB now owns 564 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $38,000 after buying an additional 171 shares in the last quarter. Carmel Capital Partners LLC lifted its position in shares of Equity LifeStyle Properties by 3.6% in the fourth quarter. Carmel Capital Partners LLC now owns 6,533 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $435,000 after acquiring an additional 230 shares in the last quarter. Corient Private Wealth LLC lifted its holdings in Equity LifeStyle Properties by 1.0% in 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 purchasing an additional 230 shares in the last quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in Equity LifeStyle Properties by 2.1% in the 4th quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC now owns 11,446 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $762,000 after purchasing an additional 238 shares in the last quarter. Finally, iA Global Asset Management Inc. boosted its stake in Equity LifeStyle Properties by 7.2% in the 4th quarter. iA Global Asset Management Inc. now owns 3,800 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $253,000 after purchasing an additional 256 shares during the period. 97.21% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Equity LifeStyle Properties Trading Down 3.1 %

Shares of ELS stock opened at $65.94 on Monday. The company has a market cap of $12.60 billion, a PE ratio of 33.82, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.02 and a beta of 0.72. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15, a current ratio of 0.02 and a quick ratio of 0.03. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $66.98 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $68.25. Equity LifeStyle Properties, Inc. has a 1 year low of $59.82 and a 1 year high of $76.60.

Equity LifeStyle Properties (NYSE:ELS) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Monday, January 27th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.76 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, hitting analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.76. Equity LifeStyle Properties had a return on equity of 23.12% and a net margin of 24.05%. Research analysts predict that Equity LifeStyle Properties, Inc. will post 3.07 earnings per share for the current year.

Equity LifeStyle Properties Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, April 11th. Investors of record on Friday, March 28th will be issued a dividend of $0.515 per share. This represents a $2.06 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.12%. This is an increase from Equity LifeStyle Properties’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.48. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 28th. Equity LifeStyle Properties’s dividend payout ratio is presently 105.64%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms have recently issued reports on ELS. Jefferies Financial Group upgraded shares of Equity LifeStyle Properties from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their price objective for the company from $72.00 to $80.00 in a research report on Thursday, January 2nd. BMO Capital Markets upgraded shares of Equity LifeStyle Properties from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $78.00 price target on the stock in a research note on Friday. Truist Financial upgraded Equity LifeStyle Properties from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, January 17th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upgraded Equity LifeStyle Properties from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their target price for the stock from $66.00 to $73.00 in a research report on Tuesday, January 21st. Finally, Robert W. Baird raised their price target on Equity LifeStyle Properties from $72.00 to $73.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 28th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $74.20.

About Equity LifeStyle Properties

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.