Pacer Advisors Inc. Buys 1,831 Shares of EastGroup Properties, Inc. (NYSE:EGP)

Pacer Advisors Inc. raised its position in EastGroup Properties, Inc. (NYSE:EGP) by 3.0% during the second quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 63,661 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after buying an additional 1,831 shares during the period. Pacer Advisors Inc. owned about 0.13% of EastGroup Properties worth $10,829,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other large investors have also made changes to their positions in EGP. D.A. Davidson & CO. bought a new stake in EastGroup Properties during the 4th quarter worth about $225,000. Corient Private Wealth LLC raised its stake in shares of EastGroup Properties by 4.7% during the fourth quarter. Corient Private Wealth LLC now owns 14,543 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $2,669,000 after buying an additional 651 shares during the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. lifted its holdings in EastGroup Properties by 105.5% in the fourth quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 22,289 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $4,091,000 after buying an additional 11,445 shares during the period. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its stake in EastGroup Properties by 1,938.5% in the fourth quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 265 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $49,000 after acquiring an additional 252 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. grew its holdings in EastGroup Properties by 3.8% during the 4th quarter. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 52,020 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $9,548,000 after acquiring an additional 1,900 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.14% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Wells Fargo & Company raised EastGroup Properties from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and increased their price target for the company from $179.00 to $214.00 in a research note on Wednesday, August 28th. Morgan Stanley increased their target price on EastGroup Properties from $158.00 to $186.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 22nd. BNP Paribas initiated coverage on EastGroup Properties in a research report on Tuesday, June 4th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $167.00 target price for the company. Royal Bank of Canada increased their price target on shares of EastGroup Properties from $172.00 to $186.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 30th. Finally, Evercore ISI upgraded shares of EastGroup Properties from an “in-line” rating to an “outperform” rating and boosted their price objective for the company from $192.00 to $204.00 in a report on Monday, September 16th. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $192.00.

EastGroup Properties Price Performance

EGP stock opened at $186.83 on Monday. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $185.48 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $174.72. EastGroup Properties, Inc. has a 1 year low of $154.75 and a 1 year high of $192.61. The stock has a market cap of $8.99 billion, a PE ratio of 40.53, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.74 and a beta of 0.99. The company has a current ratio of 0.21, a quick ratio of 0.21 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.60.

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

EastGroup Properties Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, October 15th. Stockholders of record on Monday, September 30th will be given a $1.40 dividend. This represents a $5.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.00%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, September 30th. This is a positive change from EastGroup Properties’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.27. EastGroup Properties’s payout ratio is currently 121.48%.

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.