Arizona State Retirement System Increases Stake in EastGroup Properties, Inc. (NYSE:EGP)

Arizona State Retirement System raised its position in shares of EastGroup Properties, Inc. (NYSE:EGP – Get Rating) by 8.5% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 12,293 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after purchasing an additional 966 shares during the quarter. Arizona State Retirement System’s holdings in EastGroup Properties were worth $1,820,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors have also bought and sold shares of EGP. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its holdings in EastGroup Properties by 4.2% in the 3rd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 6,353,000 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $916,992,000 after acquiring an additional 257,098 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp lifted its holdings in shares of EastGroup Properties by 11.5% during the first quarter. State Street Corp now owns 2,412,188 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $492,949,000 after purchasing an additional 248,538 shares in the last quarter. Neuberger Berman Group LLC boosted its position in shares of EastGroup Properties by 4,503.8% during the third quarter. Neuberger Berman Group LLC now owns 181,896 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $26,277,000 after buying an additional 177,945 shares during the last quarter. Handelsbanken Fonder AB increased its holdings in EastGroup Properties by 2,310.4% in the 4th quarter. Handelsbanken Fonder AB now owns 177,358 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $26,260,000 after buying an additional 170,000 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Goldman Sachs Group Inc. raised its position in EastGroup Properties by 42.7% in the 2nd quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 416,065 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $64,212,000 after buying an additional 124,567 shares during the last quarter. 89.48% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

EGP has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Piper Sandler reiterated an “overweight” rating and issued a $180.00 price target on shares of EastGroup Properties in a research note on Wednesday, February 8th. KeyCorp boosted their target price on shares of EastGroup Properties from $170.00 to $174.00 in a research note on Friday, April 28th. Truist Financial raised their price target on EastGroup Properties from $170.00 to $180.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 21st. Mizuho raised EastGroup Properties from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their target price for the company from $180.00 to $185.00 in a report on Monday, March 20th. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded EastGroup Properties from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 26th. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $170.70.

EastGroup Properties Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:EGP opened at $171.85 on Thursday. The company has a market capitalization of $7.48 billion, a P/E ratio of 44.41, a P/E/G ratio of 4.06 and a beta of 0.93. EastGroup Properties, Inc. has a 1-year low of $137.47 and a 1-year high of $180.25. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $163.73 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $159.83. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.88, a current ratio of 0.06 and a quick ratio of 0.06.

EastGroup Properties Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, April 14th. Investors of record on Friday, March 31st were paid a dividend of $1.25 per share. This represents a $5.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.91%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, March 30th. EastGroup Properties’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 129.20%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other EastGroup Properties news, Director Hayden C. Eaves III sold 638 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, April 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $163.41, for a total transaction of $104,255.58. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 7,540 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,232,111.40. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. 1.50% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

EastGroup Properties Profile

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EastGroup Properties, Inc is an internally-managed equity real estate investment trust, which engages in the development, acquisition, and operation of industrial properties. The company was founded in 1969 and is headquartered in Ridgeland, MS.