Versant Capital Management Inc Buys 95 Shares of EastGroup Properties, Inc. (NYSE:EGP)

Versant Capital Management Inc lifted its position in EastGroup Properties, Inc. (NYSE:EGP) by 18.7% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 602 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after buying an additional 95 shares during the quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc’s holdings in EastGroup Properties were worth $97,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in EGP. FMR LLC lifted its stake in EastGroup Properties by 67.9% in the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 1,558,083 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $291,081,000 after acquiring an additional 629,827 shares during the last quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC lifted its stake in EastGroup Properties by 355.1% in the 3rd 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 last quarter. Millennium Management LLC grew its holdings in EastGroup Properties by 202.1% during the second quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 188,336 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $32,036,000 after purchasing an additional 125,991 shares during the period. Vision Capital Corp acquired a new position in EastGroup Properties during the third quarter worth approximately $18,308,000. Finally, Thrivent Financial for Lutherans raised its stake in EastGroup Properties by 73.7% in the second quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans now owns 151,103 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $25,702,000 after buying an additional 64,099 shares during the period. 92.14% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

EastGroup Properties Stock Performance

EGP opened at $160.95 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.57, a quick ratio of 0.08 and a current ratio of 0.08. EastGroup Properties, Inc. has a 52-week low of $155.23 and a 52-week high of $192.61. The firm has a market cap of $7.97 billion, a P/E ratio of 33.25, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.23 and a beta of 0.99. The business’s fifty day moving average is $169.20 and its 200-day moving average is $177.43.

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

EastGroup Properties Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, January 15th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, December 31st will be given a dividend of $1.40 per share. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, December 31st. This represents a $5.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.48%. EastGroup Properties’s dividend payout ratio is currently 115.70%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts have recently commented on EGP shares. Jefferies Financial Group upgraded EastGroup Properties from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their target price for the stock from $174.00 to $194.00 in a research note on Thursday. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed a “sector perform” rating and set a $186.00 price objective on shares of EastGroup Properties in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. Truist Financial dropped 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. KeyCorp reaffirmed a “sector weight” rating on shares of EastGroup Properties in a report on Tuesday, December 17th. Finally, Morgan Stanley lowered their price target on shares of EastGroup Properties from $186.00 to $180.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, December 30th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating, eight have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $191.56.

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.