Raymond James Financial Services Advisors Inc. Increases Stock Holdings in EastGroup Properties, Inc. (NYSE:EGP)

Raymond James Financial Services Advisors Inc. boosted its stake in shares of EastGroup Properties, Inc. (NYSE:EGP) by 11.2% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 5,658 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after buying an additional 572 shares during the quarter. Raymond James Financial Services Advisors Inc.’s holdings in EastGroup Properties were worth $1,038,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of EGP. Morgan Stanley boosted its stake in EastGroup Properties by 544.4% during the fourth quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 2,044,292 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $302,678,000 after buying an additional 1,727,071 shares during the period. Norges Bank purchased a new position in EastGroup Properties during the fourth quarter worth about $64,710,000. Wellington Management Group LLP boosted its stake in EastGroup Properties by 113.1% during the third quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 695,206 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $115,773,000 after buying an additional 368,954 shares during the period. Vaughan Nelson Investment Management L.P. purchased a new position in shares of EastGroup Properties in the third quarter valued at approximately $58,974,000. Finally, State Street Corp boosted its stake in shares of EastGroup Properties by 11.5% in 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 during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.14% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In other news, CFO Brent Wood sold 2,500 shares of EastGroup Properties stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $182.74, for a total value of $456,850.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 102,617 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $18,752,230.58. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 1.50% of the company’s stock.

EastGroup Properties Stock Performance

Shares of EastGroup Properties stock opened at $171.05 on Monday. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $179.12 and its 200-day simple moving average is $175.44. The stock has a market capitalization of $8.20 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 38.79, a PEG ratio of 2.71 and a beta of 0.93. EastGroup Properties, Inc. has a 12 month low of $154.75 and a 12 month high of $188.85. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.64, a current ratio of 0.28 and a quick ratio of 0.28.

EastGroup Properties Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, April 15th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, March 28th will be issued a $1.27 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, March 27th. This represents a $5.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.97%. EastGroup Properties’s payout ratio is 115.19%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms have recently commented on EGP. Mizuho reissued a “neutral” rating and issued a $185.00 price objective on shares of EastGroup Properties in a research note on Tuesday, April 2nd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. began coverage on shares of EastGroup Properties in a research note on Thursday. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $190.00 price objective for the company. KeyCorp raised their price objective on shares of EastGroup Properties from $188.00 to $198.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, February 12th. Royal Bank of Canada raised their price objective on shares of EastGroup Properties from $180.00 to $190.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Friday, February 16th. Finally, Barclays began coverage on shares of EastGroup Properties in a research note on Wednesday, March 27th. They issued an “equal weight” rating and a $181.00 price objective for the company. Nine equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $188.36.

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.