EastGroup Properties’ (EGP) “In-Line” Rating Reaffirmed at Evercore ISI

Evercore ISI reissued their in-line rating on shares of EastGroup Properties (NYSE:EGP) in a research note released on Monday, MarketBeat reports. The brokerage currently has a $185.00 price objective on the real estate investment trust’s stock, up from their prior price objective of $181.00.

Several other equities analysts have also weighed in on the stock. Robert W. Baird increased their price objective on shares of EastGroup Properties from $192.00 to $194.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 19th. KeyCorp restated a “sector weight” rating on shares of EastGroup Properties in a report on Tuesday, December 17th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft initiated coverage on shares of EastGroup Properties in a report on Tuesday, January 14th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $180.00 price objective on the stock. Raymond James upgraded shares of EastGroup Properties from an “outperform” rating to a “strong-buy” rating and increased their target price for the stock from $185.00 to $200.00 in a report on Wednesday, December 11th. Finally, Morgan Stanley cut their target price on shares of EastGroup Properties from $186.00 to $180.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, December 30th. Nine investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, EastGroup Properties presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $190.47.

EastGroup Properties Price Performance

EGP opened at $181.23 on Monday. EastGroup Properties has a one year low of $155.10 and a one year high of $192.61. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.46, a current ratio of 0.12 and a quick ratio of 0.12. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $173.91 and its 200-day simple moving average is $175.01. The stock has a market capitalization of $9.43 billion, a P/E ratio of 38.97, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.35 and a beta of 0.99.

EastGroup Properties (NYSE:EGP) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 6th. The real estate investment trust reported $2.15 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.16 by $0.99. EastGroup Properties had a net margin of 35.57% and a return on equity of 7.89%. Sell-side analysts anticipate that EastGroup Properties will post 8.94 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

EastGroup Properties Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 15th. Investors of record on Monday, March 31st will be issued a dividend of $1.40 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 31st. This represents a $5.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.09%. EastGroup Properties’s payout ratio is 120.43%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On EastGroup Properties

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Metis Global Partners LLC grew its position in EastGroup Properties by 31.3% in the third quarter. Metis Global Partners LLC now owns 5,008 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $936,000 after purchasing an additional 1,193 shares in the last quarter. Natixis Advisors LLC grew its position in EastGroup Properties by 13.6% in the third quarter. Natixis Advisors LLC now owns 52,679 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $9,842,000 after purchasing an additional 6,307 shares in the last quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans grew its position in EastGroup Properties by 1.7% in the third quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans now owns 153,736 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $28,721,000 after purchasing an additional 2,633 shares in the last quarter. Quest Partners LLC grew its position in EastGroup Properties by 3,258.6% in the third quarter. Quest Partners LLC now owns 7,053 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $1,318,000 after purchasing an additional 6,843 shares in the last quarter. Finally, OneAscent Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in EastGroup Properties in the third quarter valued at $399,000. 92.14% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.