EastGroup Properties (NYSE:EGP) Upgraded at Evercore ISI

Evercore ISI upgraded shares of EastGroup Properties (NYSE:EGP) from an in-line rating to an outperform rating in a research note released on Monday, MarketBeat Ratings reports. They currently have $204.00 price target on the real estate investment trust’s stock, up from their previous price target of $192.00.

Several other brokerages have also commented on EGP. Truist Financial raised their price objective on shares of EastGroup Properties from $176.00 to $190.00 and gave the stock a hold rating in a report on Monday, August 5th. Wells Fargo & Company upgraded EastGroup Properties from an equal weight rating to an overweight rating and lifted their price target for the company from $179.00 to $214.00 in a research report on Wednesday, August 28th. Royal Bank of Canada increased their price objective on EastGroup Properties from $172.00 to $186.00 and gave the stock a sector perform rating in a report on Tuesday, July 30th. Barclays raised their price objective on EastGroup Properties from $175.00 to $198.00 and gave the company an equal weight rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 30th. Finally, Wedbush upped their target price on shares of EastGroup Properties from $208.00 to $209.00 and gave the stock an outperform rating in a research report on Monday, August 5th. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of Moderate Buy and a consensus target price of $192.00.

EastGroup Properties Trading Up 1.2 %

NYSE EGP opened at $191.82 on Monday. The stock has a market cap of $9.23 billion, a P/E ratio of 41.51, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.74 and a beta of 0.99. EastGroup Properties has a fifty-two week low of $154.75 and a fifty-two week high of $192.61. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $185.23 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $174.63. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.60, a quick ratio of 0.21 and a current ratio of 0.21.

EastGroup Properties (NYSE:EGP) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, July 23rd. The real estate investment trust reported $1.14 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.05 by ($0.91). EastGroup Properties had a return on equity of 8.69% and a net margin of 37.16%. The business had revenue of $159.09 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $156.70 million. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $1.89 EPS. The business’s revenue was up 13.7% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts forecast that EastGroup Properties will post 8.32 earnings per share for the current year.

EastGroup Properties Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, October 15th. Stockholders of record on Monday, September 30th will be issued a dividend of $1.40 per share. This is a boost from EastGroup Properties’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.27. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, September 30th. This represents a $5.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.92%. EastGroup Properties’s dividend payout ratio is presently 121.48%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On EastGroup Properties

A number of hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Gradient Investments LLC purchased a new stake in EastGroup Properties during the 2nd quarter valued at $32,000. Quest Partners LLC boosted its position in shares of EastGroup Properties by 10,400.0% during the second quarter. Quest Partners LLC now owns 210 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $36,000 after buying an additional 208 shares during the last quarter. Mather Group LLC. bought a new stake in EastGroup Properties in the 1st quarter worth about $42,000. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC raised its position in EastGroup Properties by 1,938.5% in the 4th quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 265 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $49,000 after buying an additional 252 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. bought a new position in EastGroup Properties during the 4th quarter valued at about $55,000. 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.