Principal Securities Inc. Buys 84 Shares of EastGroup Properties, Inc. (NYSE:EGP)

Principal Securities Inc. boosted its stake in shares of EastGroup Properties, Inc. (NYSE:EGP) by 18.5% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 538 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after purchasing an additional 84 shares during the period. Principal Securities Inc.’s holdings in EastGroup Properties were worth $86,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors have also modified their holdings of EGP. FMR LLC raised its holdings in shares of EastGroup Properties by 67.9% in the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 1,558,083 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $291,081,000 after purchasing an additional 629,827 shares in the last quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC grew its position in EastGroup Properties by 355.1% during the 3rd quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 391,594 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $73,158,000 after purchasing an additional 305,555 shares during the last quarter. Vaughan Nelson Investment Management L.P. grew its position in EastGroup Properties by 50.9% during the 4th quarter. Vaughan Nelson Investment Management L.P. now owns 517,770 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $83,098,000 after purchasing an additional 174,630 shares during the last quarter. Vision Capital Corp purchased a new stake in EastGroup Properties during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $18,308,000. Finally, Janus Henderson Group PLC boosted its holdings in shares of EastGroup Properties by 18.5% in the 3rd quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 387,972 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $72,438,000 after acquiring an additional 60,624 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 92.14% of the company’s stock.

EastGroup Properties Stock Down 1.6 %

Shares of NYSE:EGP opened at $178.93 on Thursday. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $168.25 and its 200 day moving average price is $175.20. The stock has a market cap of $9.31 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 38.48, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.35 and a beta of 1.00. EastGroup Properties, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $155.10 and a fifty-two week high of $192.61. The company has a quick ratio of 0.12, a current ratio of 0.12 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.46.

EastGroup Properties (NYSE:EGP) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 6th. The real estate investment trust reported $2.15 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.16 by $0.99. EastGroup Properties had a net margin of 35.57% and a return on equity of 7.89%. As a group, equities research analysts predict that EastGroup Properties, Inc. will post 8.94 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

EastGroup Properties Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, January 15th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, December 31st were issued a $1.40 dividend. This represents a $5.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.13%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, December 31st. EastGroup Properties’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 120.43%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts have recently commented on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price objective on shares of EastGroup Properties from $214.00 to $199.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, November 4th. Raymond James upgraded shares of EastGroup Properties from an “outperform” rating to a “strong-buy” rating and boosted their target price for the company from $185.00 to $200.00 in a research note on Wednesday, December 11th. Jefferies Financial Group upgraded shares of EastGroup Properties from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their target price for the company from $174.00 to $194.00 in a research note on Thursday, January 2nd. KeyCorp reiterated a “sector weight” rating on shares of EastGroup Properties in a research note on Tuesday, December 17th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft initiated coverage on shares of EastGroup Properties in a research report on Tuesday, January 14th. They set a “buy” rating and a $180.00 price objective for the company. Eight equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nine have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $191.65.

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.