EastGroup Properties (NYSE:EGP) Price Target Cut to $180.00 by Analysts at Morgan Stanley

EastGroup Properties (NYSE:EGP) had its target price reduced by Morgan Stanley from $186.00 to $180.00 in a research note released on Monday morning,Benzinga reports. They currently have an equal weight rating on the real estate investment trust’s stock.

Several other equities analysts have also recently weighed in on EGP. Evercore ISI increased their price objective on shares of EastGroup Properties from $204.00 to $205.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, October 7th. Mizuho upgraded shares of EastGroup Properties from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and increased their price target for the stock from $175.00 to $200.00 in a research report on Thursday, September 5th. KeyCorp reissued a “sector weight” rating on shares of EastGroup Properties in a research report on Tuesday, December 17th. Wedbush reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $209.00 target price on shares of EastGroup Properties in a report on Friday, October 25th. Finally, Barclays cut their price target on EastGroup Properties from $198.00 to $193.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, October 10th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating, seven have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $191.40.

EastGroup Properties Trading Down 0.1 %

Shares of EGP stock opened at $161.13 on Monday. The company has a current ratio of 0.08, a quick ratio of 0.08 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.57. EastGroup Properties has a 12-month low of $155.23 and a 12-month high of $192.61. The stock has a market capitalization of $7.98 billion, a P/E ratio of 33.29, a P/E/G ratio of 2.23 and a beta of 0.99. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $171.09 and its 200 day moving average is $177.72.

EastGroup Properties (NYSE:EGP) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 23rd. The real estate investment trust reported $1.13 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.10 by ($0.97). The firm had revenue of $162.88 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $161.52 million. EastGroup Properties had a return on equity of 8.56% and a net margin of 37.19%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 11.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $1.95 earnings per share. Research analysts expect that EastGroup Properties will post 8.35 earnings per share for the current year.

EastGroup Properties Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, January 15th. Investors of record on Tuesday, December 31st will be paid a dividend of $1.40 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, December 31st. This represents a $5.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.48%. EastGroup Properties’s payout ratio is 115.70%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On EastGroup Properties

Several large investors have recently made changes to their positions in EGP. Cerity Partners LLC boosted its stake in EastGroup Properties by 35.6% during the third quarter. Cerity Partners LLC now owns 13,624 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $2,545,000 after buying an additional 3,574 shares during the last quarter. Ausbil Investment Management Ltd boosted its position in shares of EastGroup Properties by 261.6% during the 3rd quarter. Ausbil Investment Management Ltd now owns 6,737 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $1,259,000 after acquiring an additional 4,874 shares during the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. grew its holdings in shares of EastGroup Properties by 337.0% in the third quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 49,097 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $8,728,000 after purchasing an additional 37,863 shares in the last quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of EastGroup Properties in the third quarter valued at $1,223,000. Finally, Creative Planning raised its stake in EastGroup Properties by 4.8% during the third 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 in the last quarter. 92.14% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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.