Aurora Investment Counsel Takes $1.63 Million Position in EastGroup Properties, Inc. (NYSE:EGP)

Aurora Investment Counsel bought a new stake in EastGroup Properties, Inc. (NYSE:EGP) during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund bought 9,563 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock, valued at approximately $1,627,000.

Several other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. CANADA LIFE ASSURANCE Co grew its stake in shares of EastGroup Properties by 5.9% in the 1st quarter. CANADA LIFE ASSURANCE Co now owns 95,952 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $17,242,000 after purchasing an additional 5,342 shares during the period. Pinebridge Investments L.P. bought a new stake in EastGroup Properties in the fourth quarter valued at $2,289,000. Tidal Investments LLC raised its stake in EastGroup Properties by 30.4% during the first quarter. Tidal Investments LLC now owns 18,316 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $3,293,000 after acquiring an additional 4,271 shares in the last quarter. Atria Investments Inc lifted its holdings in shares of EastGroup Properties by 48.9% during the first quarter. Atria Investments Inc now owns 11,389 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $2,047,000 after acquiring an additional 3,740 shares during the period. Finally, Vaughan Nelson Investment Management L.P. lifted its holdings in shares of EastGroup Properties by 30.1% during the second quarter. Vaughan Nelson Investment Management L.P. now owns 280,759 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $47,757,000 after acquiring an additional 64,984 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.14% of the company’s stock.

EastGroup Properties Stock Performance

EastGroup Properties stock opened at $186.82 on Tuesday. The company has a market cap of $8.99 billion, a PE ratio of 40.52, a PEG ratio of 2.83 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, Inc. has a 1 year low of $154.75 and a 1 year high of $192.61. The company’s 50-day moving average is $185.69 and its two-hundred day moving average is $175.05.

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

EastGroup Properties Increases Dividend

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

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts recently issued reports on the stock. KeyCorp increased their target price on shares of EastGroup Properties from $178.00 to $198.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 30th. BNP Paribas began coverage on shares of EastGroup Properties in a research note on Tuesday, June 4th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $167.00 target price for the company. Wells Fargo & Company raised EastGroup Properties from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and boosted their target price for the stock from $179.00 to $214.00 in a report on Wednesday, August 28th. Mizuho raised EastGroup Properties from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and raised their price target for the company from $175.00 to $200.00 in a report on Thursday, September 5th. Finally, Truist Financial lifted their price objective on EastGroup Properties from $176.00 to $190.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, August 5th. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $192.00.

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.