EastGroup Properties, Inc. (NYSE:EGP) Receives Consensus Recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from Brokerages

Shares of EastGroup Properties, Inc. (NYSE:EGP) have been assigned an average rating of “Moderate Buy” from the fifteen ratings firms that are currently covering the company, MarketBeat reports. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nine have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. The average 1 year price objective among analysts that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $195.1875.

Several brokerages recently weighed in on EGP. UBS Group set a $200.00 price target on EastGroup Properties in a research report on Thursday, December 4th. Evercore ISI raised their price objective on shares of EastGroup Properties from $183.00 to $185.00 and gave the stock an “in-line” rating in a research note on Monday, December 22nd. Royal Bank Of Canada set a $183.00 target price on shares of EastGroup Properties and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 28th. Barclays raised shares of EastGroup Properties from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, December 4th. Finally, KeyCorp raised shares of EastGroup Properties from a “sector weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and set a $200.00 price objective for the company in a report on Thursday, December 4th.

EastGroup Properties Price Performance

NYSE:EGP opened at $180.00 on Friday. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $181.42 and its two-hundred day moving average is $173.33. The firm has a market cap of $9.60 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 37.82, a PEG ratio of 2.70 and a beta of 1.11. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.42, a quick ratio of 0.01 and a current ratio of 0.01. EastGroup Properties has a one year low of $137.67 and a one year high of $188.89.

EastGroup Properties (NYSE:EGP) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 23rd. The real estate investment trust reported $2.27 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.28 by ($0.01). EastGroup Properties had a net margin of 35.58% and a return on equity of 7.28%. The company had revenue of $182.14 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $181.88 million. During the same period last year, the firm earned $2.13 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 11.8% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts expect that EastGroup Properties will post 8.94 EPS for the current year.

EastGroup Properties Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, January 15th. Investors of record on Wednesday, December 31st were paid a $1.55 dividend. This represents a $6.20 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.4%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, December 31st. EastGroup Properties’s payout ratio is currently 130.25%.

Insider Transactions at EastGroup Properties

In other EastGroup Properties news, EVP Richard Reid Dunbar sold 2,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, November 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $175.00, for a total transaction of $350,000.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president owned 20,630 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,610,250. This represents a 8.84% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 1.00% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Jones Financial Companies Lllp grew its stake in EastGroup Properties by 18,900.0% in the 1st quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp now owns 950 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $167,000 after acquiring an additional 945 shares during the period. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. lifted its holdings in EastGroup Properties by 28.0% during the first quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 190,144 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $33,494,000 after purchasing an additional 41,538 shares in the last quarter. Jane Street Group LLC grew its position in shares of EastGroup Properties by 309.8% in the first quarter. Jane Street Group LLC now owns 15,878 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $2,797,000 after purchasing an additional 12,003 shares during the period. Focus Partners Wealth increased its stake in shares of EastGroup Properties by 2.2% during the first quarter. Focus Partners Wealth now owns 6,103 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $1,075,000 after purchasing an additional 130 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Park Avenue Securities LLC purchased a new stake in shares of EastGroup Properties during the second quarter worth about $524,000. 92.14% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

EastGroup Properties Company Profile

EastGroup Properties, Inc (NYSE: EGP) is a real estate investment trust specializing in the ownership, development and management of industrial properties. Focused primarily on distribution-oriented facilities, the company’s portfolio consists of modern warehouse and light manufacturing buildings located in high-growth Sunbelt markets. EastGroup concentrates on delivering strategic logistics solutions to customers requiring proximity to transportation hubs and major population centers across the southern United States.

Since its founding in 1969, EastGroup has pursued a disciplined growth strategy that combines property development, targeted acquisitions and hands-on asset management.