Azzad Asset Management Inc. ADV Acquires 98 Shares of EastGroup Properties, Inc. (NYSE:EGP)

Azzad Asset Management Inc. ADV grew its position in shares of EastGroup Properties, Inc. (NYSE:EGP) by 4.9% in the third quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 2,085 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after acquiring an additional 98 shares during the quarter. Azzad Asset Management Inc. ADV’s holdings in EastGroup Properties were worth $389,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. GAMMA Investing LLC raised its holdings in EastGroup Properties by 90.7% during the 3rd quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 536 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $100,000 after buying an additional 255 shares during the period. Handelsbanken Fonder AB raised its holdings in EastGroup Properties by 9.2% during the 3rd quarter. Handelsbanken Fonder AB now owns 173,958 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $32,499,000 after buying an additional 14,600 shares during the period. Duncan Williams Asset Management LLC purchased a new stake in EastGroup Properties during the 3rd quarter valued at $1,551,000. Sanctuary Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in EastGroup Properties during the 2nd quarter valued at $783,000. Finally, Aurora Investment Counsel purchased a new stake in EastGroup Properties during the 2nd quarter valued at $1,627,000. 92.14% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms recently weighed in on EGP. 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 report on Tuesday, July 30th. Barclays increased their price target on EastGroup Properties from $175.00 to $198.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 30th. Wells Fargo & Company upgraded 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 report on Wednesday, August 28th. Truist Financial increased their price target on EastGroup Properties from $176.00 to $190.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, August 5th. Finally, Mizuho upgraded EastGroup Properties from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and increased their target price for the stock from $175.00 to $200.00 in a research note on Thursday, September 5th. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $192.07.

EastGroup Properties Stock Performance

Shares of EastGroup Properties stock opened at $177.56 on Wednesday. The firm has a market cap of $8.55 billion, a P/E ratio of 38.52, a P/E/G 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 12 month low of $154.75 and a 12 month high of $192.61. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $184.87 and its 200-day moving average price is $175.13.

EastGroup Properties (NYSE:EGP) last announced its quarterly 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 firm had revenue of $159.09 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $156.70 million. EastGroup Properties had a net margin of 37.16% and a return on equity of 8.69%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 13.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $1.89 EPS. On average, equities research analysts expect that EastGroup Properties, Inc. will post 8.32 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

EastGroup Properties Increases Dividend

The firm 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 $1.40 dividend. This represents a $5.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.15%. 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 (DPR) 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.