EastGroup Properties’ (EGP) “Outperform” Rating Reiterated at Wedbush

Wedbush restated their outperform rating on shares of EastGroup Properties (NYSE:EGP) in a research note published on Friday morning, Benzinga reports. The firm currently has a $209.00 target price on the real estate investment trust’s stock. Wedbush also issued estimates for EastGroup Properties’ FY2024 earnings at $8.36 EPS and FY2025 earnings at $9.05 EPS.

A number of other equities analysts also recently issued reports on EGP. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their price objective on shares of EastGroup Properties from $172.00 to $186.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 30th. Barclays decreased their price objective on shares of EastGroup Properties from $198.00 to $193.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, October 10th. Wells Fargo & Company upgraded EastGroup Properties from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and boosted their target price for the stock from $179.00 to $214.00 in a research note on Wednesday, August 28th. Truist Financial increased their price target on EastGroup Properties from $176.00 to $190.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, August 5th. Finally, KeyCorp boosted their price objective on EastGroup Properties from $178.00 to $198.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 30th. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, EastGroup Properties has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $192.57.

EastGroup Properties Trading Down 1.1 %

NYSE:EGP opened at $176.53 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.60, a current ratio of 0.21 and a quick ratio of 0.21. EastGroup Properties has a one year low of $155.23 and a one year high of $192.61. The company has a market cap of $8.60 billion, a PE ratio of 36.93, a PEG ratio of 2.70 and a beta of 0.99. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $184.09 and a 200-day moving average of $175.43.

EastGroup Properties (NYSE:EGP) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 23rd. The real estate investment trust reported $1.13 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.10 by ($0.97). EastGroup Properties had a return on equity of 8.69% and a net margin of 37.16%. The company had revenue of $162.88 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $161.52 million. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $1.95 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 11.2% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts expect that EastGroup Properties will post 8.32 EPS for the current fiscal year.

EastGroup Properties Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, October 15th. Stockholders of record on Monday, September 30th were paid a dividend of $1.40 per share. This is an increase from EastGroup Properties’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.27. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, September 30th. This represents a $5.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.17%. EastGroup Properties’s dividend payout ratio is presently 117.15%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On EastGroup Properties

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. CANADA LIFE ASSURANCE Co boosted its position in EastGroup Properties by 5.9% during the first quarter. CANADA LIFE ASSURANCE Co now owns 95,952 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $17,242,000 after purchasing an additional 5,342 shares during the period. Tidal Investments LLC boosted its holdings in EastGroup Properties by 30.4% in the 1st quarter. Tidal Investments LLC now owns 18,316 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $3,293,000 after buying an additional 4,271 shares during the period. Atria Investments Inc grew its stake in EastGroup Properties by 48.9% in the 1st quarter. Atria Investments Inc now owns 11,389 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $2,047,000 after buying an additional 3,740 shares in the last quarter. Vaughan Nelson Investment Management L.P. lifted its position in shares of EastGroup Properties by 30.1% during the second quarter. Vaughan Nelson Investment Management L.P. now owns 280,759 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $47,757,000 after acquiring an additional 64,984 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of EastGroup Properties by 3.2% in 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 during the period. 92.14% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.