At a glance
Equity Lifestyle Properties Inc is worth $11.29B, about 29 times its fiscal 2025 earnings. Revenue grew 0.3% to $1.53B in fiscal 2025, with 26.3% kept as profit; over 4 years it has grown 3.9% a year. It pays a 3.69% dividend yield, raised every year for at least 7 years, and returned $1.62B to shareholders in dividends and buybacks over FY2021–FY2025. The stock returned −1.2% over the past year with dividends reinvested and −4.7% a year over five years, against +11.5% and +11.7% for the S&P 500. At its worst it fell 41.5% in the 2020 crash (S&P 500: 33.7%) and 28.3% in the 2022 bear market (S&P 500: 24.5%).
The business in plain English
Equity LifeStyle Properties (ELS) is a real estate investment trust, or REIT: a company that owns property and must pay out most of its taxable income as dividends. Unusually, it owns the land, not the homes. Customers own their manufactured homes, cottages, RVs or boats and pay ELS to lease a site in one of its communities or marinas, long-term or short-term. Others pay for right-to-use contracts, called membership subscriptions, that allow limited stays at specific properties.
As of December 31, 2025, ELS had 453 properties, including joint venture properties, with 173,371 sites in 35 US states and British Columbia, Canada. They sit near retirement and vacation destinations and cities, and draw retirees, vacationing families, second-home owners and first-time homebuyers seeking lower-cost ownership. Because residents own the homes, the company says its maintenance and turnover costs are low compared with other types of real estate companies.
A taxable subsidiary, Realty Systems, Inc., handles the purchase, sale and leasing of factory-built homes in ELS communities and runs extras such as golf courses, stores and restaurants. Revenue was about $1.53 billion in fiscal 2025, up 0.3% from the year before. The company aims to grow by filling sites, acquiring properties and adding sites on about 6,300 acres of expansion land at roughly 117 properties.
Price history
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ELS -1.2% over the year to Oct 28, 2026, total return with dividends reinvested.
Latest results
- In Q3 FY2026 (ended Sep 30, 2026), revenue was $409.9M, up 4.2% from a year earlier, and net income was $89.3M (-11.1%).
- For fiscal 2025, revenue was $1.53B (+0.3% year over year; +3.9% a year from FY2021 to FY2025) with a 26.3% net margin.
Financial health check
| Revenue growth a year (FY2021–FY2025) | +3.9% watch |
|---|---|
| Operating margin | 25.6% good |
| Free cash flow margin | 21.8% good |
| Return on equity (FY2025) | 22.9% good |
| Return on assets (FY2025) | 7% watch |
| Fiscal year | Revenue | Net income | Free cash flow |
|---|---|---|---|
| FY2020 | $1.12B | $241.4M | $208.2M |
| FY2021 | $1.32B | $276.0M | $111.0M |
| FY2022 | $1.45B | $298.8M | $343.0M |
| FY2023 | $1.49B | $329.7M | $230.9M |
| FY2024 | $1.53B | $384.8M | $355.4M |
| FY2025 | $1.53B | $402.1M | $334.1M |
Valuation snapshot
| Market value | $11.29B |
|---|---|
| P/E ratio | 28.8 |
| Dividend yield | 3.69% |
Rank among 1514 US companies
Market value at each year end
Equity Lifestyle Properties’s market value went from $6.15B at the end of 2016 to $11.29B on Oct 28, 2026, up 84%; since the end of 2025 it is down 4%.
Show as a table
| Year end | Market value | Change |
|---|---|---|
| Oct 28, 2026 | $11.29B | -3.9% |
| 2025 | $11.75B | -7.7% |
| 2024 | $12.72B | -3.2% |
| 2023 | $13.15B | +9.4% |
| 2022 | $12.02B | -25.4% |
| 2021 | $16.11B | +39.6% |
| 2020 | $11.55B | -9.9% |
| 2019 | $12.82B | +47.0% |
| 2018 | $8.72B | +11.5% |
| 2017 | $7.82B | +27.1% |
| 2016 | $6.15B |
Price behavior
| YTD | 1 yr | 3 yr | 5 yr | 10 yr | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| ELS price data to Oct 28, 2026 | -1.8% | -1.2% | -0.3% | -4.7% | +7.3% |
Show as a table
| Year | Price data |
|---|---|
| 2026 (to date) | -1.8% |
| 2025 | -5.9% |
| 2024 | -2.8% |
| 2023 | +12.2% |
| 2022 | -24.5% |
| 2021 | +41.0% |
| 2020 | -7.9% |
| 2019 | +47.8% |
| 2018 | +11.7% |
| 2017 | +26.4% |
| 2016 | +10.7% |
| 2015 | +32.8% |
| 2014 | +46.6% |
| 2013 | +10.7% |
| 2012 | +3.6% |
| 2011 | +22.2% |
| 2010 | +13.3% |
| 2009 | +35.1% |
| 2008 | -14.5% |
| 2007 | -15.1% |
| 2006 | +22.6% |
| 2008 financial crisis stocks fell Oct 9, 2007 – Mar 9, 2009 | Lost 42.2% over that stretch · deepest drop along the way 55.8%, back to its old high 15.8 months after the low |
|---|---|
| 2020 COVID crash stocks fell Feb 19, 2020 – Mar 23, 2020 | Lost 39.5% over that stretch · deepest drop along the way 41.5%, back to its old high 14.7 months after the low |
| 2022 bear market stocks fell Jan 3, 2022 – Oct 12, 2022 | Lost 27.7% over that stretch · deepest drop along the way 28.3%, not recovered by the end of the data |
Insider activity
Form 4 filings from 2025-10-31 to 2026-10-31 (25 read): 0 open-market purchases and 1 sales ($202K).
| Date | Insider | Type | Value |
|---|---|---|---|
| Mar 18, 2026 | David J Contis Director | sell | $202K |
Who owns it
Large shareholders (13G filings)
| T. Rowe Price Associates, Inc. | 9.2% | Mar 31, 2026 |
| Vanguard Portfolio Management | 8.19% | Mar 31, 2026 |
| Cohen & Steers, Inc. | 7.68% | Jun 30, 2026 |
| STATE STREET CORPORATION | 6.8% | Mar 31, 2025 |
| Vanguard Capital Management | 5.15% | Mar 31, 2026 |
| Aristotle Capital Management, LLC | 4.84% | Sep 30, 2025 |
ETFs with the most weight in ELS
| SPRE SP Funds S&P Global REIT Sharia ETF | 5.1% |
| HAUS Residential REIT ETF | 4.81% |
| REZ iShares Residential and Multisector Real Estate ETF | 2.96% |
| BYRE Principal Real Estate Active Opportunities ETF | 2.9% |
| REIT ALPS Active REIT ETF | 2.76% |
| PSR Invesco Active U.S. Real Estate Fund | 2.57% |
| RITA ETFB Green SRI REITs ETF | 2.38% |
| JPRE JPMorgan Realty Income ETF | 2.09% |
What could go wrong
- RV and marina income swings with seasons. RV communities and marinas rely partly on short-stay guests, whose busiest times are spring and summer holiday weekends. Bad weather, a weaker Canadian dollar or an economic downturn can cut those visits.
- Home sales rely on buyer financing. Manufactured home buyers often use chattel loans, which are secured by the home rather than the land. Tighter rules on these loans, or a weak market for buyers' existing homes, could reduce ELS's home sales.
- Rent control and changing housing laws. Federal, state and local rules on rent control, fair housing, zoning and campground membership sales can change. New limits could cap rent increases or reduce the value of some properties.
- A flagged weakness in financial reporting controls. ELS disclosed a classification error and a related material weakness, meaning a significant gap in the checks that keep its financial reports accurate. It warns of possible lawsuits and says more weaknesses could surface.
- Storms, natural disasters and changing weather. Natural disasters have hurt the value of ELS properties before, and the company says some potential losses are not covered by insurance. Shifting weather patterns could also deter visitors or raise costs.
- Substantial debt and interest rate exposure. Total debt was about $3.3 billion as of December 31, 2025. ELS relies on outside capital to grow, and higher rates raise the cost of refinancing and of borrowing on its line of credit.
Recent events
- Executive or board change; Investor presentation or announcement; Other company announcement
- Quarterly results released
- Investor presentation or announcement
- Other company announcement
- Quarterly results released
- Investor presentation or announcement
- Investor presentation or announcement
- Shareholder vote results; Other company announcement
- Quarterly results released
- Investor presentation or announcement
For income and retirement investors
ELS has raised its regular dividend 7 years in a row, from about $1.26 a share in fiscal 2020 to $2.06 in fiscal 2025, roughly 10.3% a year. The yield was 3.69% as of October 28, 2026. Dividends equaled 96.5% of fiscal 2025 earnings and 116.1% of free cash flow, the cash left after operating and capital spending. High earnings payouts are common for REITs, since depreciation lowers reported profit, but paying out more than free cash flow leaves little cushion. ELS made no buybacks in fiscal 2021–2025, and its share count rose 4.8% from February 2022 to October 2026.
Downturns have hit the shares hard. They fell 55.8% in the 2008 crisis and 41.5% in the 2020 COVID crash, recovering about 16 and 15 months after the lows. They fell 28.3% in the 2022 bear market and remained below their early-2022 peak as of October 28, 2026. As a single stock, ELS carries more risk than a diversified fund.
Questions investors ask
How does Equity LifeStyle Properties make money?
Mainly by leasing land. ELS owns manufactured home communities, RV communities and marinas, and customers who own their homes, RVs or boats pay to rent a site there, long-term or short-term. It also offers right-to-use membership subscriptions for limited stays, and a subsidiary handles the purchase, sale and leasing of factory-built homes in its communities. Revenue was about $1.53 billion in fiscal 2025, with net income of about $402 million.
Does Equity LifeStyle raise its dividend every year?
It has raised its regular dividend in each of the last 7 years. Dividends per share grew from about $1.26 in fiscal 2020 to $2.06 in fiscal 2025, an average of about 10.3% a year. The payout is high, though. Dividends equaled 96.5% of fiscal 2025 earnings and 116.1% of free cash flow, so further increases depend on cash flow keeping pace. Past increases do not guarantee future ones.
What is Equity LifeStyle's dividend yield?
The dividend yield was 3.69% as of October 28, 2026, when the company's market value was about $11.3 billion. Because ELS is a REIT, its dividends generally do not qualify for the lower tax rates that apply to many other company dividends. In a taxable account, more of the income may be taxed at ordinary income rates. In a tax-advantaged account such as an IRA, this matters less.
How many properties does Equity LifeStyle own?
ELS had 453 properties with 173,371 sites as of December 31, 2025, counting joint venture properties. They span 35 US states and British Columbia, Canada. A decade earlier the portfolio had about 387 properties with over 143,900 sites. About 117 properties have room for new sites on roughly 6,300 acres. The company estimates North America has about 50,000 manufactured home properties, many not run by large operators, and sees that as room to keep acquiring.
How did Equity LifeStyle stock do in past market crashes?
It fell sharply each time. The shares dropped 55.8% in the 2008 financial crisis and regained their prior peak by March 2010. They dropped 41.5% in the 2020 COVID crash and recovered by June 2021. After a 28.3% fall in the 2022 bear market, they were still below their early-2022 peak as of October 28, 2026. Over the five years to that date the price was down 22%, but over ten years it was up 101%.