EastGroup Properties, Inc. (NYSE:EGP) Short Interest Update

EastGroup Properties, Inc. (NYSE:EGP) was the recipient of a significant increase in short interest in the month of February. As of February 15th, there was short interest totalling 1,440,000 shares, an increase of 26.3% from the January 31st total of 1,140,000 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 372,600 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 3.9 days.

EastGroup Properties Price Performance

NYSE EGP traded up $0.98 during trading on Friday, hitting $186.53. 96,224 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 319,518. The company has a market cap of $9.70 billion, a PE ratio of 40.11, a P/E/G ratio of 3.35 and a beta of 0.99. The company has a current ratio of 0.12, a quick ratio of 0.12 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.46. EastGroup Properties has a fifty-two week low of $155.10 and a fifty-two week high of $192.61. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $170.54 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $175.29.

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 (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.16 by $0.99. EastGroup Properties had a return on equity of 7.89% and a net margin of 35.57%. Research analysts expect that EastGroup Properties will post 8.94 EPS for the current year.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its holdings in EastGroup Properties by 1.0% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 6,990,950 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $1,121,978,000 after purchasing an additional 72,199 shares during the period. Cohen & Steers Inc. boosted its holdings in EastGroup Properties by 141.6% during the 4th quarter. Cohen & Steers Inc. now owns 2,855,920 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $458,347,000 after acquiring an additional 1,673,663 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp boosted its stake in shares of EastGroup Properties by 2.1% in the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 2,427,405 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $456,872,000 after buying an additional 49,268 shares during the last quarter. FMR LLC increased its position in shares of EastGroup Properties by 1.4% during the 4th quarter. FMR LLC now owns 1,579,515 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $253,496,000 after purchasing an additional 21,432 shares during the last quarter. Finally, T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. increased its holdings in EastGroup Properties by 24.0% during the fourth quarter. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,413,716 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $226,888,000 after buying an additional 273,217 shares during the last quarter. 92.14% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts have recently issued reports on EGP shares. Jefferies Financial Group upgraded shares of EastGroup Properties from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their target price for the stock from $174.00 to $194.00 in a research note on Thursday, January 2nd. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft started coverage on EastGroup Properties in a report on Tuesday, January 14th. They set a “buy” rating and a $180.00 price objective for the company. Morgan Stanley lowered their target price on EastGroup Properties from $186.00 to $180.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, December 30th. KeyCorp restated a “sector weight” rating on shares of EastGroup Properties in a research note on Tuesday, December 17th. Finally, Truist Financial increased their target price on shares of EastGroup Properties from $168.00 to $180.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, February 14th. Eight 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, 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.