Vanguard Group Inc. Buys 120,746 Shares of EastGroup Properties, Inc. (NYSE:EGP)

Vanguard Group Inc. grew its position in EastGroup Properties, Inc. (NYSE:EGP) by 1.8% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 6,652,922 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after purchasing an additional 120,746 shares during the quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. owned approximately 13.87% of EastGroup Properties worth $1,221,077,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Venturi Wealth Management LLC lifted its position in EastGroup Properties by 51.6% during the 4th quarter. Venturi Wealth Management LLC now owns 194 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $36,000 after acquiring an additional 66 shares during the last quarter. Baker Avenue Asset Management LP lifted its position in shares of EastGroup Properties by 18.2% during the 3rd quarter. Baker Avenue Asset Management LP now owns 467 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $78,000 after purchasing an additional 72 shares during the last quarter. Treasurer of the State of North Carolina boosted its stake in EastGroup Properties by 0.5% during the 3rd quarter. Treasurer of the State of North Carolina now owns 19,264 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $3,208,000 after purchasing an additional 100 shares during the period. Securian Asset Management Inc. grew its holdings in EastGroup Properties by 2.6% in the 4th quarter. Securian Asset Management Inc. now owns 3,945 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $724,000 after buying an additional 100 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Vanguard Personalized Indexing Management LLC grew its holdings in EastGroup Properties by 5.5% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Personalized Indexing Management LLC now owns 2,748 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $504,000 after buying an additional 144 shares during the last quarter. 92.14% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts have recently weighed in on EGP shares. Royal Bank of Canada reduced their price objective on EastGroup Properties from $190.00 to $172.00 and set a “sector perform” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, May 6th. Evercore ISI dropped their price objective on shares of EastGroup Properties from $190.00 to $178.00 and set an “in-line” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, April 25th. Mizuho reduced their target price on shares of EastGroup Properties from $185.00 to $175.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, May 31st. BNP Paribas initiated coverage on EastGroup Properties in a research note on Tuesday, June 4th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $167.00 price target on the stock. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price objective on EastGroup Properties from $190.00 to $183.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, May 2nd. Eleven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $182.41.

EastGroup Properties Trading Down 0.4 %

Shares of EGP stock opened at $165.96 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $7.99 billion, a P/E ratio of 36.00, a P/E/G ratio of 2.60 and a beta of 0.98. EastGroup Properties, Inc. has a 12-month low of $154.75 and a 12-month high of $188.85. The company has a quick ratio of 0.10, a current ratio of 0.10 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.63. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $163.18 and a 200 day moving average price of $174.09.

EastGroup Properties Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, July 15th. Stockholders of record on Friday, June 28th will be issued a $1.27 dividend. This represents a $5.08 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.06%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, June 28th. EastGroup Properties’s payout ratio is currently 110.20%.

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.