EastGroup Properties (NYSE:EGP) Upgraded by Jefferies Financial Group to Buy Rating

EastGroup Properties (NYSE:EGP) was upgraded by equities research analysts at Jefferies Financial Group from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report issued on Thursday,Briefing.com Automated Import reports. The brokerage currently has a $194.00 price objective on the real estate investment trust’s stock, up from their prior price objective of $174.00. Jefferies Financial Group’s price target points to a potential upside of 20.88% from the stock’s previous close.

A number of other research firms have also weighed in on EGP. Wedbush reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $209.00 price objective on shares of EastGroup Properties in a research note on Friday, October 25th. Mizuho raised shares of EastGroup Properties from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and raised their price target for the company from $175.00 to $200.00 in a report on Thursday, September 5th. Barclays decreased their price target on shares of EastGroup Properties from $198.00 to $193.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, October 10th. Evercore ISI lifted their price objective on EastGroup Properties from $204.00 to $205.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, October 7th. Finally, Raymond James upgraded EastGroup Properties from an “outperform” rating to a “strong-buy” rating and upped their target price for the stock from $185.00 to $200.00 in a research note on Wednesday, December 11th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating, eight have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $191.56.

EastGroup Properties Price Performance

Shares of NYSE EGP opened at $160.49 on Thursday. EastGroup Properties has a 1-year low of $155.23 and a 1-year high of $192.61. The company has a current ratio of 0.08, a quick ratio of 0.08 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.57. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $169.92 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $177.53. The firm has a market cap of $7.95 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 33.16, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.23 and a beta of 0.99.

EastGroup Properties (NYSE:EGP) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 23rd. The real estate investment trust reported $1.13 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.10 by ($0.97). The firm had revenue of $162.88 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $161.52 million. EastGroup Properties had a net margin of 37.19% and a return on equity of 8.56%. The company’s revenue was up 11.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $1.95 earnings per share. Analysts anticipate that EastGroup Properties will post 8.35 earnings per share for the current year.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On EastGroup Properties

Several institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in EGP. V Square Quantitative Management LLC grew its position in shares of EastGroup Properties by 47.7% in the 3rd quarter. V Square Quantitative Management LLC now owns 189 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $35,000 after buying an additional 61 shares during the last quarter. Quest Partners LLC raised its holdings in EastGroup Properties by 10,400.0% in the 2nd quarter. Quest Partners LLC now owns 210 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $36,000 after purchasing an additional 208 shares in the last quarter. Headlands Technologies LLC purchased a new stake in shares of EastGroup Properties in the 2nd quarter worth about $66,000. GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its stake in shares of EastGroup Properties by 90.7% during the 3rd quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 536 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $100,000 after purchasing an additional 255 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Quarry LP bought a new position in EastGroup Properties in the third quarter worth about $102,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.14% of the company’s stock.

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.