EastGroup Properties, Inc. (NYSE:EGP) Given Average Rating of “Moderate Buy” by Analysts

EastGroup Properties, Inc. (NYSE:EGP) has received a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” from the fourteen analysts that are currently covering the stock, MarketBeat Ratings reports. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation, seven have issued a buy recommendation and one has assigned a strong buy recommendation to the company. The average 12 month target price among brokerages that have covered the stock in the last year is $188.00.

A number of equities analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Royal Bank Of Canada decreased their price objective on shares of EastGroup Properties from $189.00 to $183.00 and set a “sector perform” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, April 29th. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price objective on shares of EastGroup Properties from $199.00 to $187.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Monday, May 19th. Raymond James Financial restated a “strong-buy” rating on shares of EastGroup Properties in a report on Wednesday, May 7th. Evercore ISI lifted their target price on shares of EastGroup Properties from $179.00 to $180.00 and gave the stock an “in-line” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 24th. Finally, Barclays cut their target price on shares of EastGroup Properties from $193.00 to $182.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, April 30th.

EastGroup Properties Price Performance

EGP stock opened at $169.88 on Monday. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $169.05 and a 200-day moving average price of $169.07. EastGroup Properties has a 52-week low of $137.67 and a 52-week high of $192.61. The firm has a market capitalization of $8.92 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 37.17, a PEG ratio of 3.76 and a beta of 1.01. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.43, a quick ratio of 0.12 and a current ratio of 0.12.

EastGroup Properties (NYSE:EGP) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, April 23rd. The real estate investment trust reported $2.12 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.11 by $0.01. EastGroup Properties had a net margin of 34.60% and a return on equity of 7.41%. The firm had revenue of $174.45 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $169.67 million. During the same period last year, the business earned $1.98 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was up 13.1% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts forecast that EastGroup Properties will post 8.94 EPS for the current fiscal year.

EastGroup Properties Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, July 15th. Investors of record on Monday, June 30th will be issued a $1.40 dividend. This represents a $5.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.30%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, June 30th. EastGroup Properties’s dividend payout ratio is currently 122.54%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Citizens National Bank Trust Department bought a new position in shares of EastGroup Properties during the 1st quarter valued at about $26,000. Assetmark Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of EastGroup Properties by 1,035.7% during the 1st quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 159 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $28,000 after purchasing an additional 145 shares during the last quarter. Crowley Wealth Management Inc. bought a new position in shares of EastGroup Properties during the 4th quarter valued at about $29,000. Mather Group LLC. boosted its holdings in shares of EastGroup Properties by 74.2% during the 1st quarter. Mather Group LLC. now owns 364 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $64,000 after purchasing an additional 155 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Parallel Advisors LLC raised its position in shares of EastGroup Properties by 387.4% during the 1st quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC now owns 424 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $75,000 after buying an additional 337 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 92.14% of the company’s stock.

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.