EastGroup Properties (NYSE:EGP) Reaches New 1-Year High on Analyst Upgrade

EastGroup Properties, Inc. (NYSE:EGP)’s share price reached a new 52-week high during mid-day trading on Tuesday after Truist Financial raised their price target on the stock from $203.00 to $205.00. Truist Financial currently has a buy rating on the stock. EastGroup Properties traded as high as $193.32 and last traded at $193.4480, with a volume of 175197 shares. The stock had previously closed at $190.92.

Several other research analysts have also recently commented on EGP. Wall Street Zen cut EastGroup Properties from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Sunday, February 8th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft downgraded shares of EastGroup Properties from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $185.00 price objective for the company. in a research report on Monday, January 5th. BNP Paribas Exane upgraded shares of EastGroup Properties from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $207.00 target price for the company in a research report on Monday, October 27th. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of EastGroup Properties in a report on Monday, December 29th. Finally, Morgan Stanley set a $205.00 price objective on EastGroup Properties in a research report on Friday, January 16th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, ten have issued a Buy rating and five have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $199.47.

Institutional Trading of EastGroup Properties

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its position in EastGroup Properties by 0.6% in the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 7,350,473 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $1,244,141,000 after buying an additional 43,633 shares during the last quarter. Cohen & Steers Inc. boosted its stake 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 acquiring an additional 200,617 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp grew its holdings in shares of EastGroup Properties by 0.6% in the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 2,683,711 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $458,320,000 after acquiring an additional 15,918 shares during the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. raised its position in shares of EastGroup Properties by 16.0% during the fourth quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 2,303,804 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $410,404,000 after purchasing an additional 318,261 shares during the period. Finally, Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of EastGroup Properties during the fourth quarter worth $281,054,000. 92.14% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

EastGroup Properties Stock Performance

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.47, a current ratio of 0.01 and a quick ratio of 0.01. The firm has a market capitalization of $10.28 billion, a PE ratio of 39.58, a P/E/G ratio of 2.79 and a beta of 1.11. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $183.52 and a 200 day moving average price of $175.92.

EastGroup Properties Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, January 15th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, December 31st were given a $1.55 dividend. This represents a $6.20 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.2%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, December 31st. EastGroup Properties’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 127.31%.

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.