EastGroup Properties, Inc. (NYSE:EGP) Receives Average Rating of “Moderate Buy” from Analysts

EastGroup Properties, Inc. (NYSE:EGP) has been assigned a consensus recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the fifteen ratings firms that are currently covering the company, Marketbeat Ratings reports. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation, seven have assigned a buy recommendation and one has issued a strong buy recommendation on the company. The average 12-month price objective among brokers that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $191.80.

Several analysts have weighed in on EGP shares. StockNews.com downgraded shares of EastGroup Properties from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Monday, October 28th. Morgan Stanley boosted their price objective on shares of EastGroup Properties from $158.00 to $186.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, August 22nd. Wedbush restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $209.00 target price on shares of EastGroup Properties in a research note on Friday, October 25th. Truist Financial lowered their price target on EastGroup Properties from $190.00 to $186.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, November 13th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada restated a “sector perform” rating and issued a $186.00 price objective on shares of EastGroup Properties in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th.

Institutional Trading of EastGroup Properties

Hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Hennion & Walsh Asset Management Inc. raised its position in shares of EastGroup Properties by 5.8% in the second quarter. Hennion & Walsh Asset Management Inc. now owns 3,481 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $592,000 after acquiring an additional 192 shares during the period. Fifth Third Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new position in EastGroup Properties during the second quarter worth approximately $244,000. Ceredex Value Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in EastGroup Properties in the second quarter valued at approximately $35,131,000. Bank of New York Mellon Corp increased its position in shares of EastGroup Properties by 0.5% in the second quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 479,323 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $81,533,000 after buying an additional 2,418 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank raised its stake in shares of EastGroup Properties by 4.0% during the 2nd quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank now owns 19,314 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $3,285,000 after buying an additional 751 shares during the period. 92.14% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

EastGroup Properties Stock Performance

Shares of EGP opened at $161.20 on Thursday. The company has a current ratio of 0.08, a quick ratio of 0.08 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.57. The firm has a market cap of $7.98 billion, a PE ratio of 33.31, a P/E/G ratio of 2.22 and a beta of 0.99. EastGroup Properties has a 12 month low of $155.23 and a 12 month high of $192.61. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $173.74 and a 200-day moving average price of $177.85.

EastGroup Properties (NYSE:EGP) last released 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). EastGroup Properties had a net margin of 37.19% and a return on equity of 8.56%. The business had revenue of $162.88 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $161.52 million. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $1.95 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 11.2% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts predict that EastGroup Properties will post 8.36 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

EastGroup Properties Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, January 15th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, December 31st will be issued a dividend of $1.40 per share. This represents a $5.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.47%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, December 31st. EastGroup Properties’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 115.70%.

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.