Vaughan Nelson Investment Management L.P. Boosts Stake in EastGroup Properties, Inc. (NYSE:EGP)

Vaughan Nelson Investment Management L.P. boosted its holdings in EastGroup Properties, Inc. (NYSE:EGP) by 22.2% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 343,140 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after acquiring an additional 62,381 shares during the quarter. Vaughan Nelson Investment Management L.P.’s holdings in EastGroup Properties were worth $64,105,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of EGP. Natixis Advisors LLC increased its holdings in shares of EastGroup Properties by 13.6% in the 3rd quarter. Natixis Advisors LLC now owns 52,679 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $9,842,000 after purchasing an additional 6,307 shares in the last quarter. Metis Global Partners LLC increased its holdings in EastGroup Properties by 31.3% in the third quarter. Metis Global Partners LLC now owns 5,008 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $936,000 after buying an additional 1,193 shares in the last quarter. Curi RMB Capital LLC grew its holdings in shares of EastGroup Properties by 1.0% in the 3rd quarter. Curi RMB Capital LLC now owns 128,662 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $24,037,000 after acquiring an additional 1,283 shares during the period. Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. increased its stake in EastGroup Properties by 11.2% in the 3rd quarter. Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. now owns 16,394 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $3,063,000 after purchasing an additional 1,648 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Aptus Capital Advisors LLC raised its holdings in EastGroup Properties by 15.6% during the third quarter. Aptus Capital Advisors LLC now owns 31,502 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $5,885,000 after purchasing an additional 4,240 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.14% of the company’s stock.

EastGroup Properties Price Performance

EGP stock opened at $171.99 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 0.08, a quick ratio of 0.08 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.57. EastGroup Properties, Inc. has a 12-month low of $155.23 and a 12-month high of $192.61. The company has a market cap of $8.52 billion, a PE ratio of 35.54, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.56 and a beta of 1.00. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $180.51 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $176.53.

EastGroup Properties (NYSE:EGP) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 23rd. The real estate investment trust reported $1.13 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.10 by ($0.97). EastGroup Properties had a return on equity of 8.56% and a net margin of 37.19%. The business had revenue of $162.88 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $161.52 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $1.95 earnings per share. EastGroup Properties’s quarterly revenue was up 11.2% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts predict that EastGroup Properties, Inc. will post 8.36 EPS for the current year.

EastGroup Properties Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, October 15th. Investors of record on Monday, September 30th were issued a dividend of $1.40 per share. This is an increase from EastGroup Properties’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.27. This represents a $5.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.26%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, September 30th. EastGroup Properties’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 115.70%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have recently weighed in on EGP. Morgan Stanley raised their price target on EastGroup Properties from $158.00 to $186.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 22nd. Wedbush reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $209.00 price target on shares of EastGroup Properties in a research report on Friday, October 25th. StockNews.com lowered EastGroup Properties from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Monday, October 28th. KeyCorp raised their price target on EastGroup Properties from $178.00 to $198.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 30th. Finally, Truist Financial reduced their price objective on EastGroup Properties from $190.00 to $186.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, EastGroup Properties has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $191.21.

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.