EastGroup Properties (NYSE:EGP) Rating Increased to Hold at StockNews.com

StockNews.com upgraded shares of EastGroup Properties (NYSE:EGP) from a sell rating to a hold rating in a report released on Monday.

Several other equities research analysts have also commented on EGP. Wedbush restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $209.00 price target on shares of EastGroup Properties in a report on Friday, October 25th. Jefferies Financial Group upgraded shares of EastGroup Properties from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their price target for the company from $174.00 to $194.00 in a report on Thursday, January 2nd. KeyCorp restated a “sector weight” rating on shares of EastGroup Properties in a report on Tuesday, December 17th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft assumed coverage on shares of EastGroup Properties in a research report on Tuesday, January 14th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $180.00 price objective on the stock. Finally, Truist Financial cut their price objective on shares of EastGroup Properties from $190.00 to $186.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, November 13th. Eight investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nine have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $190.88.

EastGroup Properties Trading Up 1.2 %

Shares of EGP opened at $176.74 on Monday. EastGroup Properties has a 1-year low of $155.10 and a 1-year high of $192.61. The company has a 50-day moving average of $165.71 and a 200 day moving average of $175.52. The firm has a market capitalization of $8.75 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 38.01, a PEG ratio of 3.23 and a beta of 1.00. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.57, a current ratio of 0.08 and a quick ratio of 0.08.

EastGroup Properties (NYSE:EGP) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 6th. The real estate investment trust reported $2.15 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.16 by $0.99. EastGroup Properties had a net margin of 35.57% and a return on equity of 8.27%. On average, research analysts expect that EastGroup Properties will post 8.94 EPS for the current year.

EastGroup Properties Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, January 15th. Investors of record on Tuesday, December 31st were paid a $1.40 dividend. This represents a $5.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.17%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, December 31st. EastGroup Properties’s dividend payout ratio is currently 120.43%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On EastGroup Properties

Large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of EastGroup Properties during the fourth quarter worth $116,756,000. FMR LLC grew its holdings in shares of EastGroup Properties by 67.9% during the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 1,558,083 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $291,081,000 after buying an additional 629,827 shares in the last quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. grew its holdings in shares of EastGroup Properties by 210.6% during the fourth quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. now owns 707,732 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $113,584,000 after buying an additional 479,873 shares in the last quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC grew its holdings in shares of EastGroup Properties by 355.1% in the third quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 391,594 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $73,158,000 after purchasing an additional 305,555 shares during the period. Finally, Vaughan Nelson Investment Management L.P. grew its holdings in shares of EastGroup Properties by 50.9% in the fourth quarter. Vaughan Nelson Investment Management L.P. now owns 517,770 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $83,098,000 after purchasing an additional 174,630 shares during the period. 92.14% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

EastGroup Properties Company Profile

EastGroup Properties, Inc (NYSE: EGP), a member of the S&P Mid-Cap 400 and Russell 1000 Indexes, is a self-administered equity real estate investment trust focused on the development, acquisition and operation of industrial properties in major Sunbelt markets throughout the United States with an emphasis in the states of Florida, Texas, Arizona, California and North Carolina.