Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd Has $3.98 Million Stake in Equity LifeStyle Properties, Inc. (NYSE:ELS)

Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd grew its position in Equity LifeStyle Properties, Inc. (NYSE:ELS) by 8.1% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 59,693 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after buying an additional 4,496 shares during the quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd’s holdings in Equity LifeStyle Properties were worth $3,976,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. GAMMA Investing LLC increased its stake in Equity LifeStyle Properties by 74.6% in the third quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,430 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $102,000 after acquiring an additional 611 shares during the last quarter. CWM LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Equity LifeStyle Properties by 26.3% in the 3rd quarter. CWM LLC now owns 2,367 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $169,000 after purchasing an additional 493 shares in the last quarter. UMB Bank n.a. increased its stake in shares of Equity LifeStyle Properties by 356.4% in the 3rd quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 534 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $38,000 after purchasing an additional 417 shares during the last quarter. Livforsakringsbolaget Skandia Omsesidigt raised its holdings in shares of Equity LifeStyle Properties by 220.0% during the 3rd quarter. Livforsakringsbolaget Skandia Omsesidigt now owns 1,600 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $115,000 after buying an additional 1,100 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Inspire Investing LLC lifted its position in shares of Equity LifeStyle Properties by 3.6% during the 3rd quarter. Inspire Investing LLC now owns 21,465 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $1,531,000 after buying an additional 737 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 97.21% of the company’s stock.

Equity LifeStyle Properties Stock Performance

Shares of Equity LifeStyle Properties stock opened at $66.27 on Monday. The stock has a market cap of $12.66 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 33.98, a P/E/G ratio of 2.82 and a beta of 0.79. Equity LifeStyle Properties, Inc. has a twelve month low of $59.82 and a twelve month high of $76.60. The company’s fifty day moving average is $66.98 and its 200 day moving average is $69.47. 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 (NYSE:ELS) last released its quarterly earnings results on Monday, January 27th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.76 EPS for the quarter, meeting analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.76. Equity LifeStyle Properties had a return on equity of 23.12% and a net margin of 24.05%. Sell-side analysts forecast that Equity LifeStyle Properties, Inc. will post 3.1 EPS 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. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 28th will be issued a dividend of $0.515 per share. This is a positive change from Equity LifeStyle Properties’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.48. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 28th. This represents a $2.06 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.11%. Equity LifeStyle Properties’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 97.95%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

ELS has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upgraded Equity LifeStyle Properties from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their target price for the company from $66.00 to $73.00 in a research report on Tuesday, January 21st. Evercore ISI decreased their price target on shares of Equity LifeStyle Properties from $74.00 to $73.00 and set an “in-line” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, January 28th. Compass Point increased their price objective on shares of Equity LifeStyle Properties from $70.00 to $72.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 23rd. Royal Bank of Canada decreased their target price on shares of Equity LifeStyle Properties from $69.00 to $68.00 and set a “sector perform” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, January 29th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group upgraded Equity LifeStyle Properties from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their price target for the company from $72.00 to $80.00 in a research note on Thursday, January 2nd. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, six have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Equity LifeStyle Properties has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $73.78.

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.