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

Equity LifeStyle Properties, Inc. (NYSE:ELS) saw a large increase in short interest in the month of September. As of September 15th, there was short interest totalling 3,620,000 shares, an increase of 23.1% from the August 31st total of 2,940,000 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 1,130,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 3.2 days. Currently, 2.0% of the company’s shares are sold short.

Equity LifeStyle Properties Stock Up 0.8 %

Shares of NYSE ELS traded up $0.58 during midday trading on Monday, reaching $71.34. 1,256,996 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,195,284. Equity LifeStyle Properties has a 52-week low of $59.82 and a 52-week high of $76.60. The stock has a market capitalization of $13.30 billion, a PE ratio of 38.67, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.22 and a beta of 0.79. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.34, a quick ratio of 0.03 and a current ratio of 0.03. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $71.35 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $66.24.

Equity LifeStyle Properties (NYSE:ELS) last posted its quarterly earnings results 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). The firm had revenue of $380.00 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $334.53 million. Equity LifeStyle Properties had a return on equity of 23.71% and a net margin of 23.56%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 2.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $0.66 earnings per share. Analysts forecast that Equity LifeStyle Properties will post 2.91 EPS for the current year.

Equity LifeStyle Properties Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, October 11th. Investors of record on Friday, September 27th will be paid a $0.4775 dividend. This represents a $1.91 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.68%. This is an increase from Equity LifeStyle Properties’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.48. The ex-dividend date is Friday, September 27th. Equity LifeStyle Properties’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 104.37%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

ELS has been the topic of several research reports. Evercore ISI raised their price objective 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. Wells Fargo & Company raised Equity LifeStyle Properties from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and raised their price objective for the company from $70.50 to $82.00 in a research report on Thursday, September 19th. Truist Financial raised their price objective on 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, Royal Bank of Canada reissued a “sector perform” rating and issued a $68.00 price objective on shares of Equity LifeStyle Properties in a research report on Wednesday, July 24th. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Equity LifeStyle Properties presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $70.67.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Equity LifeStyle Properties news, COO Patrick Waite sold 20,820 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, August 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $70.23, for a total transaction of $1,462,188.60. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer now owns 221,777 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $15,575,398.71. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. In other news, COO Patrick Waite sold 20,820 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, August 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $70.23, for a total transaction of $1,462,188.60. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer now directly owns 221,777 shares in the company, valued at approximately $15,575,398.71. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, CEO Marguerite M. Nader sold 33,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction 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 sale, the chief executive officer now owns 260,936 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $19,705,886.72. 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 quarter. 1.40% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Equity LifeStyle Properties

A number of hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of ELS. Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund boosted its stake in Equity LifeStyle Properties by 42.9% in the second quarter. Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund now owns 80,000 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $5,210,000 after acquiring an additional 24,000 shares during the period. Point72 Asia Singapore Pte. Ltd. acquired a new position in Equity LifeStyle Properties in the second quarter valued at approximately $119,000. Cim LLC boosted its stake in Equity LifeStyle Properties by 7.2% in the second quarter. Cim LLC now owns 41,573 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $3,007,000 after acquiring an additional 2,779 shares during the period. Sanctuary Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Equity LifeStyle Properties in the second quarter valued at approximately $1,010,000. Finally, Point72 Asset Management L.P. boosted its stake in Equity LifeStyle Properties by 744.8% in the second quarter. Point72 Asset Management L.P. now owns 251,747 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $16,396,000 after acquiring an additional 221,947 shares during the period. 97.21% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Equity LifeStyle Properties Company Profile

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.