Bank of America Corp DE Sells 110,877 Shares of Equity LifeStyle Properties, Inc. (NYSE:ELS)

Bank of America Corp DE lessened its position in Equity LifeStyle Properties, Inc. (NYSE:ELS) by 6.9% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 1,488,347 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after selling 110,877 shares during the period. Bank of America Corp DE’s holdings in Equity LifeStyle Properties were worth $99,124,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in ELS. Algert Global LLC purchased a new stake in Equity LifeStyle Properties during the 4th quarter valued at $2,488,000. Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV raised its position in Equity LifeStyle Properties by 261.5% in the 4th quarter. Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV now owns 15,854 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $1,056,000 after buying an additional 11,468 shares during the last quarter. Caisse DE Depot ET Placement DU Quebec lifted its stake in Equity LifeStyle Properties by 16.0% during the 4th quarter. Caisse DE Depot ET Placement DU Quebec now owns 94,294 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $6,280,000 after acquiring an additional 13,000 shares during the period. Freestone Grove Partners LP purchased a new stake in shares of Equity LifeStyle Properties during the 4th quarter valued at about $565,000. Finally, Kapitalo Investimentos Ltda purchased a new position in shares of Equity LifeStyle Properties during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $342,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 97.21% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at Equity LifeStyle Properties

In other news, CFO Paul Seavey sold 10,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 trade represents a 11.34 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. 1.40% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts have commented on the stock. Jefferies Financial Group started coverage on shares of Equity LifeStyle Properties in a research report on Tuesday, April 8th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $80.00 target price for the company. Robert W. Baird raised their target price on Equity LifeStyle Properties from $72.00 to $73.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 28th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upgraded shares of Equity LifeStyle Properties from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their price objective for the stock from $66.00 to $73.00 in a research note on Tuesday, January 21st. Royal Bank of Canada decreased their price target on shares of Equity LifeStyle Properties from $69.00 to $68.00 and set a “sector perform” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, January 29th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets reduced their price objective on Equity LifeStyle Properties from $78.00 to $77.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, April 22nd. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, six have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $74.33.

Equity LifeStyle Properties Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE ELS opened at $64.33 on Friday. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $65.64 and its two-hundred day moving average is $67.19. Equity LifeStyle Properties, Inc. has a 52-week low of $58.86 and a 52-week high of $76.60. The company has a market cap of $12.30 billion, a P/E ratio of 32.99, a P/E/G ratio of 3.02 and a beta of 0.76. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15, a quick ratio of 0.03 and a current ratio of 0.02.

Equity LifeStyle Properties (NYSE:ELS) last posted its earnings results on Monday, April 21st. The real estate investment trust reported $0.83 EPS for the quarter, hitting analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.83. The company had revenue of $327.21 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $391.34 million. Equity LifeStyle Properties had a return on equity of 23.12% and a net margin of 24.05%. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $0.59 earnings per share. As a group, analysts anticipate that Equity LifeStyle Properties, Inc. will post 3.07 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Equity LifeStyle Properties Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, July 11th. Investors of record on Friday, June 27th will be given a $0.515 dividend. This represents a $2.06 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.20%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, June 27th. Equity LifeStyle Properties’s dividend payout ratio is presently 106.74%.

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.