EastGroup Properties (NYSE:EGP) Reaches New 12-Month High – Still a Buy?

EastGroup Properties, Inc. (NYSE:EGP)’s share price reached a new 52-week high during trading on Thursday . The company traded as high as $217.00 and last traded at $217.8920, with a volume of 5581 shares. The stock had previously closed at $213.11.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts have issued reports on the stock. Robert W. Baird boosted their target price on shares of EastGroup Properties from $208.00 to $210.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 28th. Morgan Stanley lifted their price target on EastGroup Properties from $215.00 to $231.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Wednesday, May 27th. Cantor Fitzgerald reissued an “overweight” rating and set a $217.00 price target on shares of EastGroup Properties in a research report on Monday, April 27th. Evercore set a $195.00 price objective on EastGroup Properties in a research note on Friday, April 24th. Finally, KeyCorp raised their price objective on EastGroup Properties from $210.00 to $220.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday. Twelve research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $213.06.

EastGroup Properties Stock Down 0.5%

The company has a quick ratio of 0.19, a current ratio of 0.19 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.45. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $205.17 and a 200-day simple moving average of $194.91. The stock has a market cap of $11.95 billion, a P/E ratio of 40.41, a PEG ratio of 3.35 and a beta of 1.03.

EastGroup Properties (NYSE:EGP) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 22nd. The real estate investment trust reported $1.77 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.27 by $0.50. EastGroup Properties had a net margin of 39.69% and a return on equity of 8.37%. The company had revenue of $190.26 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $193.84 million. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $2.15 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 9.1% compared to the same quarter last year. EastGroup Properties has set its FY 2026 guidance at 9.460-9.660 EPS. Analysts expect that EastGroup Properties, Inc. will post 9.59 EPS for the current year.

EastGroup Properties Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, July 15th. Investors of record on Tuesday, June 30th were issued a $1.55 dividend. This represents a $6.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.8%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, June 30th. EastGroup Properties’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 112.73%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other EastGroup Properties news, Director David Michael Fields sold 504 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, June 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $195.77, for a total transaction of $98,668.08. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 3,531 shares in the company, valued at $691,263.87. This represents a 12.49% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. 1.00% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On EastGroup Properties

Large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of EastGroup Properties in the fourth quarter valued at about $281,054,000. Principal Financial Group Inc. lifted its position in shares of EastGroup Properties by 16.0% in the 4th quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 2,303,804 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $410,404,000 after acquiring an additional 318,261 shares during the period. Alyeska Investment Group L.P. grew its holdings in shares of EastGroup Properties by 98.4% during the 4th quarter. Alyeska Investment Group L.P. now owns 566,295 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $100,880,000 after purchasing an additional 280,819 shares in the last quarter. Cohen & Steers Inc. grew its holdings in shares of EastGroup Properties by 7.0% during the 4th quarter. Cohen & Steers Inc. now owns 3,063,576 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $545,746,000 after purchasing an additional 200,617 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Corient Private Wealth LLC increased its position in shares of EastGroup Properties by 623.9% during the fourth quarter. Corient Private Wealth LLC now owns 174,997 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $31,174,000 after purchasing an additional 150,822 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.14% of the company’s stock.

About EastGroup Properties

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.