Davis Selected Advisers Has $7.13 Million Position in EastGroup Properties, Inc. (NYSE:EGP)

Davis Selected Advisers raised its stake in shares of EastGroup Properties, Inc. (NYSE:EGP) by 12.1% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 44,440 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after purchasing an additional 4,780 shares during the period. Davis Selected Advisers’ holdings in EastGroup Properties were worth $7,132,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Cerity Partners LLC grew its stake in EastGroup Properties by 35.6% in the 3rd quarter. Cerity Partners LLC now owns 13,624 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $2,545,000 after buying an additional 3,574 shares during the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. boosted its holdings in EastGroup Properties by 337.0% during the third quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 49,097 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $8,728,000 after acquiring an additional 37,863 shares during the period. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC grew its position in shares of EastGroup Properties by 20.4% in the fourth quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 1,625 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $261,000 after purchasing an additional 275 shares during the last quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB increased its stake in shares of EastGroup Properties by 6.1% in the fourth quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 72,392 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $11,667,000 after purchasing an additional 4,176 shares during the period. Finally, BankPlus Trust Department acquired a new position in shares of EastGroup Properties during the 4th quarter worth about $1,871,000. Institutional investors own 92.14% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts have issued reports on the company. KeyCorp reaffirmed a “sector weight” rating on shares of EastGroup Properties in a report on Tuesday, December 17th. StockNews.com upgraded shares of EastGroup Properties from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, February 10th. Jefferies Financial Group upgraded shares of EastGroup Properties from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their target price for the company from $174.00 to $194.00 in a research note on Thursday, January 2nd. 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 target on the stock. Finally, Robert W. Baird upped their price objective on shares of EastGroup Properties from $192.00 to $194.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 19th. Eight equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nine have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, EastGroup Properties currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $191.65.

EastGroup Properties Stock Performance

EastGroup Properties stock opened at $184.51 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $9.60 billion, a P/E ratio of 39.68, a P/E/G ratio of 3.35 and a beta of 0.99. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $171.00 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $175.36. EastGroup Properties, Inc. has a 52-week low of $155.10 and a 52-week high of $192.61. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.46, a current ratio of 0.12 and a quick ratio of 0.12.

EastGroup Properties (NYSE:EGP) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, February 6th. The real estate investment trust reported $2.15 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.16 by $0.99. EastGroup Properties had a net margin of 35.57% and a return on equity of 7.89%. As a group, analysts anticipate that EastGroup Properties, Inc. will post 8.94 EPS for the current fiscal year.

EastGroup Properties Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 15th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 31st will be issued a $1.40 dividend. This represents a $5.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.04%. EastGroup Properties’s payout ratio is currently 120.43%.

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.