EastGroup Properties (NYSE:EGP) Rating Increased to Buy at Jefferies Financial Group

EastGroup Properties (NYSE:EGP) was upgraded by stock analysts at Jefferies Financial Group from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note issued to investors on Thursday,Briefing.com Automated Import reports. The firm presently has a $194.00 price target on the real estate investment trust’s stock, up from their previous price target of $174.00. Jefferies Financial Group’s price target suggests a potential upside of 20.88% from the stock’s previous close.

Other equities analysts have also recently issued research reports about the stock. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated a “sector perform” rating and issued a $186.00 price target on shares of EastGroup Properties in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price target on shares of EastGroup Properties from $214.00 to $199.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, November 4th. KeyCorp reaffirmed a “sector weight” rating on shares of EastGroup Properties in a research report on Tuesday, December 17th. Wedbush reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $209.00 target price on shares of EastGroup Properties in a report on Friday, October 25th. Finally, Mizuho raised EastGroup Properties from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and upped their price target for the company from $175.00 to $200.00 in a report on Thursday, September 5th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating, eight have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, EastGroup Properties currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $191.56.

EastGroup Properties Trading Down 0.4 %

Shares of NYSE EGP opened at $160.49 on Thursday. EastGroup Properties has a 1 year low of $155.23 and a 1 year high of $192.61. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.57, a current ratio of 0.08 and a quick ratio of 0.08. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $169.92 and a 200 day moving average of $177.53. The stock has a market cap of $7.95 billion, a P/E ratio of 33.16, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.23 and a beta of 0.99.

EastGroup Properties (NYSE:EGP) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 23rd. The real estate investment trust reported $1.13 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.10 by ($0.97). The company had revenue of $162.88 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $161.52 million. EastGroup Properties had a return on equity of 8.56% and a net margin of 37.19%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 11.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $1.95 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that EastGroup Properties will post 8.35 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On EastGroup Properties

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Legacy Wealth Management LLC MS bought a new stake in EastGroup Properties during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $296,000. Franklin Resources Inc. raised its position in shares of EastGroup Properties by 337.0% during the 3rd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 49,097 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $8,728,000 after purchasing an additional 37,863 shares during the period. Tidal Investments LLC boosted its holdings in EastGroup Properties by 23.2% in the 3rd quarter. Tidal Investments LLC now owns 30,905 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $5,774,000 after buying an additional 5,811 shares during the period. Sanctuary Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of EastGroup Properties by 46.7% in the third quarter. Sanctuary Advisors LLC now owns 7,370 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $1,267,000 after acquiring an additional 2,347 shares during the period. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of EastGroup Properties by 1.2% in the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 899,219 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $168,032,000 after buying an additional 10,435 shares in the last quarter. 92.14% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

About EastGroup Properties

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.