50,496 Shares in EastGroup Properties, Inc. (NYSE:EGP) Purchased by Makena Capital Management LLC

Makena Capital Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of EastGroup Properties, Inc. (NYSE:EGP) during the 2nd quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund acquired 50,496 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock, valued at approximately $8,589,000. EastGroup Properties accounts for about 2.0% of Makena Capital Management LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 29th biggest position.

A number of other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of EGP. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its stake in shares of EastGroup Properties by 3.2% during the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 6,863,129 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $1,233,785,000 after acquiring an additional 210,207 shares in the last quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD lifted its holdings in EastGroup Properties by 7.9% in the first quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 975,450 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $175,359,000 after buying an additional 71,614 shares during the period. Boston Partners lifted its position in EastGroup Properties by 26.1% during the first quarter. Boston Partners now owns 953,736 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $171,399,000 after buying an additional 197,427 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its holdings in EastGroup Properties by 7.9% in the second quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 728,092 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $123,848,000 after acquiring an additional 53,083 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Eagle Asset Management Inc. grew its holdings in shares of EastGroup Properties by 29.3% during the fourth quarter. Eagle Asset Management Inc. now owns 646,613 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $118,679,000 after buying an additional 146,381 shares during the last quarter. 92.14% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts have recently commented on the company. BNP Paribas began coverage on EastGroup Properties in a research note on Tuesday, June 4th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $167.00 price objective on the stock. Mizuho upgraded shares of EastGroup Properties from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and upped their target price for the company from $175.00 to $200.00 in a research report on Thursday, September 5th. Morgan Stanley increased their target price on shares of EastGroup Properties from $158.00 to $186.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 22nd. Wedbush increased their price target on EastGroup Properties from $208.00 to $209.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, August 5th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company raised shares of EastGroup Properties from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and lifted their price target for the company from $179.00 to $214.00 in a research note on Wednesday, August 28th. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, EastGroup Properties has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $192.00.

EastGroup Properties Trading Down 0.4 %

NYSE:EGP opened at $187.62 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.60, a quick ratio of 0.21 and a current ratio of 0.21. EastGroup Properties, Inc. has a 1 year low of $154.75 and a 1 year high of $192.61. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $185.77 and a 200-day simple moving average of $175.03. The stock has a market cap of $9.14 billion, a P/E ratio of 40.70, a P/E/G ratio of 2.83 and a beta of 0.99.

EastGroup Properties (NYSE:EGP) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, July 23rd. The real estate investment trust reported $1.14 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.05 by ($0.91). EastGroup Properties had a return on equity of 8.69% and a net margin of 37.16%. The company had revenue of $159.09 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $156.70 million. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $1.89 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 13.7% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts anticipate that EastGroup Properties, Inc. will post 8.32 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

EastGroup Properties Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, October 15th. Stockholders of record on Monday, September 30th will be given a $1.40 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, September 30th. This is a positive change from EastGroup Properties’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.27. This represents a $5.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.98%. EastGroup Properties’s dividend payout ratio is currently 110.20%.

About EastGroup Properties

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.