EastGroup Properties, Inc. (NYSE:EGP) Stock Holdings Boosted by Handelsbanken Fonder AB

Handelsbanken Fonder AB grew its position in shares of EastGroup Properties, Inc. (NYSE:EGP) by 9.2% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 173,958 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after purchasing an additional 14,600 shares during the quarter. Handelsbanken Fonder AB owned 0.36% of EastGroup Properties worth $32,499,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its holdings in EastGroup Properties by 3.2% during the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 6,863,129 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $1,233,785,000 after acquiring an additional 210,207 shares during the period. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD grew its stake in shares of EastGroup Properties by 7.9% in the 1st quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 975,450 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $175,359,000 after purchasing an additional 71,614 shares during the last quarter. Boston Partners grew its stake in shares of EastGroup Properties by 26.1% in the 1st quarter. Boston Partners now owns 953,736 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $171,399,000 after purchasing an additional 197,427 shares during the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its holdings in shares of EastGroup Properties by 7.9% in the 2nd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 728,092 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $123,848,000 after purchasing an additional 53,083 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp lifted its stake in EastGroup Properties by 0.5% during the second quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 479,323 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $81,533,000 after purchasing an additional 2,418 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 92.14% of the company’s stock.

EastGroup Properties Stock Down 0.4 %

EGP stock traded down $0.78 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $179.99. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 211,829 shares, compared to its average volume of 293,817. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $185.26 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $175.21. EastGroup Properties, Inc. has a 12 month low of $154.75 and a 12 month high of $192.61. The company has a market capitalization of $8.67 billion, a PE ratio of 39.04, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.83 and a beta of 0.99. The company has a quick ratio of 0.21, a current ratio of 0.21 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.60.

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

EastGroup Properties Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, October 15th. Shareholders of record on Monday, September 30th will be issued a dividend of $1.40 per share. This represents a $5.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.11%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, September 30th. This is an increase from EastGroup Properties’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.27. EastGroup Properties’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 121.48%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

EGP has been the topic of several recent research reports. Evercore ISI upgraded shares of EastGroup Properties from an “in-line” rating to an “outperform” rating and lifted their price target for the stock from $192.00 to $204.00 in a research report on Monday, September 16th. 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 research report on Thursday, August 22nd. Royal Bank of Canada increased their price target on EastGroup Properties from $172.00 to $186.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 30th. Wedbush boosted their price objective on EastGroup Properties from $208.00 to $209.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, August 5th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company upgraded shares of EastGroup Properties from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and raised their target price for the stock from $179.00 to $214.00 in a report on Wednesday, August 28th. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, EastGroup Properties has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price 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.