Nomura Holdings Inc. Buys New Position in Equity LifeStyle Properties, Inc. (NYSE:ELS)

Nomura Holdings Inc. bought a new stake in Equity LifeStyle Properties, Inc. (NYSE:ELS) in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund bought 46,098 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock, valued at approximately $3,070,000.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Empowered Funds LLC purchased a new position in shares of Equity LifeStyle Properties in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $380,000. Vert Asset Management LLC lifted its holdings in Equity LifeStyle Properties by 9.8% during the 4th quarter. Vert Asset Management LLC now owns 79,516 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $5,296,000 after buying an additional 7,092 shares in the last quarter. Lecap Asset Management Ltd. boosted its position in Equity LifeStyle Properties by 185.8% in the 4th quarter. Lecap Asset Management Ltd. now owns 24,882 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $1,657,000 after buying an additional 16,176 shares during the period. Van ECK Associates Corp grew its stake in shares of Equity LifeStyle Properties by 0.9% in the fourth quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 82,239 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $5,477,000 after acquiring an additional 759 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Avanza Fonder AB purchased a new stake in shares of Equity LifeStyle Properties during the fourth quarter worth $917,000. 97.21% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Equity LifeStyle Properties Price Performance

ELS stock opened at $63.76 on Friday. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $65.22 and a 200 day moving average price of $67.04. The company has a quick ratio of 0.03, a current ratio of 0.02 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15. The stock has a market cap of $12.19 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 32.70, a PEG ratio of 3.02 and a beta of 0.76. Equity LifeStyle Properties, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $58.86 and a fifty-two week high of $76.60.

Equity LifeStyle Properties (NYSE:ELS) last issued 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 business had revenue of $327.21 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $391.34 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $0.59 EPS. Equities research analysts anticipate that Equity LifeStyle Properties, Inc. will post 3.07 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Equity LifeStyle Properties Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, July 11th. Shareholders of record on Friday, June 27th will be issued a dividend of $0.515 per share. This represents a $2.06 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.23%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, June 27th. Equity LifeStyle Properties’s payout ratio is 106.74%.

Insider Transactions at Equity LifeStyle Properties

In related news, CFO Paul Seavey sold 10,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, May 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $64.72, for a total value of $647,200.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 78,162 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,058,644.64. This represents a 11.34% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Insiders own 1.40% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

ELS has been the topic of several analyst reports. Jefferies Financial Group initiated coverage on Equity LifeStyle Properties in a research note on Tuesday, April 8th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $80.00 price objective on the stock. BMO Capital Markets reduced their price target on Equity LifeStyle Properties from $78.00 to $77.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, April 22nd. 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. Robert W. Baird raised 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 upgraded shares of Equity LifeStyle Properties from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their price target for the stock from $66.00 to $73.00 in a research note on Tuesday, January 21st. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, six have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $74.33.

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.