EastGroup Properties (NYSE:EGP) Upgraded at JPMorgan Chase & Co.

JPMorgan Chase & Co. upgraded shares of EastGroup Properties (NYSE:EGP) from a neutral rating to an overweight rating in a report issued on Thursday, MarketBeat reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. currently has $231.00 price objective on the real estate investment trust’s stock.

EGP has been the subject of a number of other research reports. BTIG Research lifted their price target on EastGroup Properties from $218.00 to $235.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 1st. Cantor Fitzgerald reissued an “overweight” rating and issued a $235.00 price objective on shares of EastGroup Properties in a research note on Monday, July 27th. Weiss Ratings lowered EastGroup Properties from a “buy (b)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a report on Wednesday, September 9th. Raymond James Financial assumed coverage on EastGroup Properties in a research report on Wednesday, June 17th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $241.00 target price on the stock. Finally, Piper Sandler reiterated an “overweight” rating on shares of EastGroup Properties in a report on Thursday, August 13th. Thirteen analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have issued a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, EastGroup Properties presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $221.37.

EastGroup Properties Stock Down 0.4%

EastGroup Properties stock opened at $201.60 on Thursday. The firm has a market capitalization of $10.84 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 35.37, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.94 and a beta of 1.01. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $203.55 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $200.92. EastGroup Properties has a 1-year low of $166.08 and a 1-year high of $226.71. The company has a current ratio of 0.16, a quick ratio of 0.16 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.45.

EastGroup Properties (NYSE:EGP) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, July 22nd. The real estate investment trust reported $1.40 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.31 by $0.09. EastGroup Properties had a net margin of 40.47% and a return on equity of 8.61%. The company had revenue of $193.33 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $193.61 million. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $2.21 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 9.0% on a year-over-year basis. EastGroup Properties has set its FY 2026 guidance at 9.520-9.660 EPS. On average, equities research analysts predict that EastGroup Properties will post 9.6 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

EastGroup Properties Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, October 15th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, September 30th will be paid a $1.75 dividend. This is a positive change from EastGroup Properties’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.55. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, September 30th. This represents a $7.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.5%. EastGroup Properties’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 108.77%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On EastGroup Properties

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of EGP. Fifth Third Wealth Advisors LLC grew its holdings in shares of EastGroup Properties by 4.1% in the first quarter. Fifth Third Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 1,520 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $281,000 after acquiring an additional 60 shares in the last quarter. Waverly Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in EastGroup Properties by 4.2% during the second quarter. Waverly Advisors LLC now owns 1,554 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $315,000 after acquiring an additional 62 shares during the period. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its position in EastGroup Properties by 3.9% in the first quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 2,016 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $373,000 after purchasing an additional 75 shares during the last quarter. Concurrent Investment Advisors LLC boosted its position in EastGroup Properties by 2.0% in the second quarter. Concurrent Investment Advisors LLC now owns 4,174 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $845,000 after purchasing an additional 82 shares during the last quarter. Finally, PNC Financial Services Group Inc. grew its stake in EastGroup Properties by 1.9% in the 4th quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 4,659 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $830,000 after purchasing an additional 85 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.14% of the company’s stock.

About EastGroup Properties

EastGroup Properties, Inc (NYSE: EGP) is a real estate investment trust that owns, develops, acquires and operates industrial properties. The company focuses primarily on business distribution space, including functional warehouse and light industrial facilities designed to support local and regional distribution, manufacturing and service businesses.

EastGroup concentrates its portfolio in major Sun Belt markets, with a presence in states including Arizona, California, Florida, Georgia, Nevada, North Carolina, Oklahoma, Tennessee and Texas.