Xponance Inc. Boosts Stock Position in EastGroup Properties, Inc. (NYSE:EGP)

Xponance Inc. grew its holdings in shares of EastGroup Properties, Inc. (NYSE:EGP) by 6.9% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 5,622 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after purchasing an additional 365 shares during the period. Xponance Inc.’s holdings in EastGroup Properties were worth $902,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the business. Canton Hathaway LLC acquired a new stake in shares of EastGroup Properties in the fourth quarter valued at $30,000. Thurston Springer Miller Herd & Titak Inc. raised its position in EastGroup Properties by 503.3% in the 4th quarter. Thurston Springer Miller Herd & Titak Inc. now owns 362 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $58,000 after purchasing an additional 302 shares in the last quarter. Principal Securities Inc. boosted its stake in shares of EastGroup Properties by 18.5% in the 4th quarter. Principal Securities Inc. now owns 538 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $86,000 after buying an additional 84 shares during the period. Versant Capital Management Inc increased its stake in shares of EastGroup Properties by 18.7% during the fourth quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 602 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $97,000 after buying an additional 95 shares during the period. Finally, Quarry LP acquired a new stake in EastGroup Properties in the third quarter valued at approximately $102,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.14% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Evercore ISI reaffirmed an “in-line” rating and set a $185.00 price objective (up from $181.00) on shares of EastGroup Properties in a research report on Monday, March 17th. Raymond James raised EastGroup Properties from an “outperform” rating to a “strong-buy” rating and raised their target price for the stock from $185.00 to $200.00 in a research report on Wednesday, December 11th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft initiated coverage on shares of EastGroup Properties in a research note on Tuesday, January 14th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $180.00 price target on the stock. Morgan Stanley cut their price objective 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. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group upgraded shares of EastGroup Properties from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their price objective for the company from $174.00 to $194.00 in a research report on Thursday, January 2nd. Nine investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $190.47.

EastGroup Properties Stock Performance

NYSE EGP opened at $176.32 on Tuesday. 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, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $155.10 and a fifty-two week high of $192.61. The business has a fifty day moving average of $175.79 and a 200-day moving average of $174.69. The stock has a market cap of $9.17 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 37.92, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.35 and a beta of 0.99.

EastGroup Properties (NYSE:EGP) last released its earnings results on Thursday, February 6th. The real estate investment trust reported $2.15 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating 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, analysts predict that EastGroup Properties, Inc. will post 8.94 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

EastGroup Properties Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 15th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 31st will be paid a $1.40 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 31st. This represents a $5.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.18%. EastGroup Properties’s payout ratio is currently 120.43%.

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.