Principal Financial Group Inc. Cuts Stake in EastGroup Properties, Inc. (NYSE:EGP)

Principal Financial Group Inc. lessened its stake in EastGroup Properties, Inc. (NYSE:EGP) by 5.9% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 365,796 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after selling 22,915 shares during the quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. owned 0.74% of EastGroup Properties worth $68,331,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. V Square Quantitative Management LLC raised its holdings in EastGroup Properties by 47.7% in the third quarter. V Square Quantitative Management LLC now owns 189 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $35,000 after buying an additional 61 shares during the last quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC increased its position in shares of EastGroup Properties by 7.1% during the third quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 1,350 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $252,000 after acquiring an additional 90 shares in the last quarter. Azzad Asset Management Inc. ADV raised its holdings in EastGroup Properties by 4.9% in the 3rd quarter. Azzad Asset Management Inc. ADV now owns 2,085 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $389,000 after acquiring an additional 98 shares during the last quarter. UMB Bank n.a. lifted its position in EastGroup Properties by 7.7% in the 3rd quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 1,598 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $299,000 after acquiring an additional 114 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Creative Planning boosted its stake in EastGroup Properties by 4.8% during the 3rd quarter. Creative Planning now owns 2,555 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $477,000 after purchasing an additional 117 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 92.14% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts have recently issued reports on EGP shares. Evercore ISI upped their price target on EastGroup Properties from $204.00 to $205.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, October 7th. StockNews.com downgraded shares of EastGroup Properties from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Monday, October 28th. Wedbush reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $209.00 price objective on shares of EastGroup Properties in a report on Friday, October 25th. Barclays dropped their target price on shares of EastGroup Properties from $198.00 to $193.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, October 10th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reiterated a “sector perform” rating and set a $186.00 target price on shares of EastGroup Properties in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating, seven have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $191.80.

EastGroup Properties Stock Performance

Shares of EGP opened at $161.44 on Friday. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $173.06 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $177.71. The company has a quick ratio of 0.08, a current ratio of 0.08 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.57. EastGroup Properties, Inc. has a 52 week low of $155.23 and a 52 week high of $192.61. The stock has a market cap of $7.99 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 33.36, a PEG ratio of 2.22 and a beta of 0.99.

EastGroup Properties (NYSE:EGP) last released its earnings results 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 firm had revenue of $162.88 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $161.52 million. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $1.95 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was up 11.2% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts expect that EastGroup Properties, Inc. will post 8.36 EPS for the current year.

EastGroup Properties Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, January 15th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, December 31st will be issued a dividend of $1.40 per share. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, December 31st. This represents a $5.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.47%. EastGroup Properties’s dividend payout ratio is presently 115.70%.

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.