Van ECK Associates Corp Trims Stock Position in EastGroup Properties, Inc. (NYSE:EGP)

Van ECK Associates Corp lowered its stake in shares of EastGroup Properties, Inc. (NYSE:EGP) by 1.3% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 17,967 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after selling 243 shares during the quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp’s holdings in EastGroup Properties were worth $3,056,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Norges Bank purchased a new position in EastGroup Properties during the fourth quarter worth approximately $103,931,000. Boston Partners raised its position in shares of EastGroup Properties by 42.7% in the 4th quarter. Boston Partners now owns 756,309 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $138,813,000 after buying an additional 226,169 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its holdings in EastGroup Properties by 3.2% in the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 6,863,129 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $1,233,785,000 after acquiring an additional 210,207 shares during the last quarter. Ceredex Value Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in EastGroup Properties during the second quarter valued at about $35,131,000. Finally, Zimmer Partners LP increased its stake in EastGroup Properties by 465.6% during the first quarter. Zimmer Partners LP now owns 200,558 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $36,054,000 after acquiring an additional 165,100 shares during the last quarter. 92.14% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

EastGroup Properties Stock Up 0.3 %

Shares of NYSE:EGP opened at $186.23 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $8.97 billion, a PE ratio of 40.40, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.96 and a beta of 0.99. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $182.66 and a 200 day simple moving average of $174.22. 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 12-month low of $154.75 and a 12-month high of $192.61.

EastGroup Properties (NYSE:EGP) last issued its earnings results 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 company 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 business’s revenue for the quarter was up 13.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $1.89 EPS. On average, equities research analysts anticipate 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. Shareholders 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 3.01%. 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 payout ratio is currently 121.48%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts have recently issued reports on EGP shares. Morgan Stanley boosted their target price on EastGroup Properties from $158.00 to $186.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, August 22nd. Wells Fargo & Company upgraded shares of EastGroup Properties from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and boosted their price objective for the stock from $179.00 to $214.00 in a research note on Wednesday, August 28th. KeyCorp lifted their target price on shares of EastGroup Properties from $178.00 to $198.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 30th. Mizuho upgraded EastGroup Properties from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and increased their price target for the company from $175.00 to $200.00 in a report on Thursday. Finally, Evercore ISI raised their price objective on EastGroup Properties from $188.00 to $192.00 and gave the company an “in-line” rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 28th. Eight analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, EastGroup Properties currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $191.20.

EastGroup Properties 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.