Orion Portfolio Solutions LLC Reduces Stock Position in EastGroup Properties, Inc. (NYSE:EGP)

Orion Portfolio Solutions LLC trimmed its stake in shares of EastGroup Properties, Inc. (NYSE:EGP) by 6.9% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 7,626 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after selling 567 shares during the period. Orion Portfolio Solutions LLC’s holdings in EastGroup Properties were worth $1,224,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Franklin Resources Inc. raised its stake in 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 buying an additional 37,863 shares during the last quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC increased its position in EastGroup Properties by 20.4% during 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 acquiring an additional 275 shares during the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp lifted its holdings in EastGroup Properties by 5.5% in the fourth quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 452,429 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $72,610,000 after acquiring an additional 23,626 shares during the period. BankPlus Trust Department purchased a new position in EastGroup Properties in the fourth quarter worth about $1,871,000. Finally, Nordea Investment Management AB grew its stake in shares of EastGroup Properties by 6.1% during the 4th quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 72,392 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $11,667,000 after purchasing an additional 4,176 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 92.14% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages have recently weighed in on EGP. Robert W. Baird increased their price objective on shares of EastGroup Properties from $192.00 to $194.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 19th. Jefferies Financial Group upgraded shares of EastGroup Properties from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their price target for the stock from $174.00 to $194.00 in a research note on Thursday, January 2nd. KeyCorp restated a “sector weight” rating on shares of EastGroup Properties in a research note on Tuesday, December 17th. Morgan Stanley lowered their target price on EastGroup Properties from $186.00 to $180.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, December 30th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft initiated coverage on EastGroup Properties in a research report on Tuesday, January 14th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $180.00 price target for the company. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating, eight have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, EastGroup Properties has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $190.47.

EastGroup Properties Stock Performance

EGP opened at $160.59 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.46, a quick ratio of 0.12 and a current ratio of 0.12. The stock has a market capitalization of $8.35 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 34.54, a PEG ratio of 3.35 and a beta of 0.94. The company has a fifty day moving average of $177.24 and a 200 day moving average of $174.05. EastGroup Properties, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $155.10 and a fifty-two week high of $192.61.

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

EastGroup Properties Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 15th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 31st will be issued a dividend of $1.40 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 31st. This represents a $5.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.49%. EastGroup Properties’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 120.43%.

EastGroup Properties 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.