EastGroup Properties (NYSE:EGP) Rating Increased to Hold at StockNews.com

StockNews.com upgraded shares of EastGroup Properties (NYSE:EGP) from a sell rating to a hold rating in a research report released on Monday.

A number of other analysts have also recently issued reports on EGP. Truist Financial reduced their price objective on shares of EastGroup Properties from $190.00 to $186.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, November 13th. Wedbush reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $209.00 price objective on shares of EastGroup Properties in a research note on Friday, October 25th. Jefferies Financial Group raised shares of EastGroup Properties from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their price objective for the stock from $174.00 to $194.00 in a research note on Thursday, January 2nd. Raymond James raised shares of EastGroup Properties from an “outperform” rating to a “strong-buy” rating and increased their price objective for the stock from $185.00 to $200.00 in a research note on Wednesday, December 11th. Finally, KeyCorp reissued a “sector weight” rating on shares of EastGroup Properties in a research note on Tuesday, December 17th. Eight research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nine have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $190.88.

EastGroup Properties Stock Up 1.2 %

EGP opened at $176.74 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 1-year low of $155.10 and a 1-year high of $192.61. The company has a market capitalization of $8.75 billion, a PE ratio of 38.01, a PEG ratio of 3.23 and a beta of 1.00. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $165.71 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $175.52.

EastGroup Properties (NYSE:EGP) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 6th. The real estate investment trust reported $2.15 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.16 by $0.99. EastGroup Properties had a net margin of 35.57% and a return on equity of 8.27%. As a group, equities analysts forecast that EastGroup Properties will post 8.94 EPS for the current year.

EastGroup Properties Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, January 15th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, December 31st were issued a $1.40 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, December 31st. This represents a $5.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.17%. EastGroup Properties’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 120.43%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On EastGroup Properties

Several institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Cibc World Markets Corp lifted its holdings in shares of EastGroup Properties by 11.7% in the 4th quarter. Cibc World Markets Corp now owns 14,365 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $2,305,000 after acquiring an additional 1,508 shares during the last quarter. Corient Private Wealth LLC lifted its holdings in shares of EastGroup Properties by 2.6% in the 4th quarter. Corient Private Wealth LLC now owns 12,400 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $1,990,000 after acquiring an additional 314 shares during the last quarter. Natixis Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of EastGroup Properties by 23.5% in the 4th quarter. Natixis Advisors LLC now owns 65,050 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $10,440,000 after acquiring an additional 12,371 shares during the last quarter. Vestcor Inc bought a new stake in shares of EastGroup Properties in the 4th quarter worth about $2,051,000. Finally, Swiss National Bank lifted its holdings in EastGroup Properties by 2.0% during the 4th quarter. Swiss National Bank now owns 95,887 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $15,389,000 after buying an additional 1,900 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 92.14% of the company’s stock.

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.