EastGroup Properties (NYSE:EGP) Earns In-Line Rating from Evercore ISI

Evercore ISI reissued their in-line rating on shares of EastGroup Properties (NYSE:EGP) in a research report released on Monday morning, Marketbeat.com reports. They currently have a $185.00 price objective on the real estate investment trust’s stock, up from their prior price objective of $181.00.

Other research analysts have also recently issued reports about the stock. Morgan Stanley lowered their price target on shares of EastGroup Properties from $186.00 to $180.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, December 30th. StockNews.com raised shares of EastGroup Properties from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, February 10th. Raymond James raised EastGroup Properties from an “outperform” rating to a “strong-buy” rating and boosted their price target for the stock from $185.00 to $200.00 in a research report on Wednesday, December 11th. Robert W. Baird raised their price objective on EastGroup Properties from $192.00 to $194.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 19th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft assumed coverage on EastGroup Properties in a research note on Tuesday, January 14th. They set a “buy” rating and a $180.00 price objective for the company. Nine research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, EastGroup Properties has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $190.47.

EastGroup Properties Stock Down 0.4 %

Shares of NYSE:EGP opened at $178.90 on Monday. The firm has a market capitalization of $9.31 billion, a P/E ratio of 38.47, a P/E/G ratio of 3.35 and a beta of 0.99. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.46, a quick ratio of 0.12 and a current ratio of 0.12. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $174.73 and a 200-day moving average price of $174.99. EastGroup Properties has a 52-week low of $155.10 and a 52-week high of $192.61.

EastGroup Properties (NYSE:EGP) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 6th. The real estate investment trust reported $2.15 earnings per share for the quarter, topping 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%. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that EastGroup Properties will post 8.94 EPS for the current fiscal year.

EastGroup Properties Announces Dividend

The firm 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 $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 3.13%. EastGroup Properties’s payout ratio is 120.43%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On EastGroup Properties

A number of hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of EGP. Cerity Partners LLC grew its stake in shares of EastGroup Properties by 35.6% in the third quarter. Cerity Partners LLC now owns 13,624 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $2,545,000 after acquiring an additional 3,574 shares during the period. Franklin Resources Inc. grew its position in EastGroup Properties by 337.0% in the 3rd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 49,097 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $8,728,000 after purchasing an additional 37,863 shares during the period. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC raised its stake in EastGroup Properties by 20.4% during the 4th quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 1,625 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $261,000 after buying an additional 275 shares during the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp lifted its holdings in shares of EastGroup Properties by 5.5% during the 4th quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 452,429 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $72,610,000 after buying an additional 23,626 shares during the period. Finally, Nordea Investment Management AB boosted its stake in shares of EastGroup Properties by 6.1% in the 4th quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 72,392 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $11,667,000 after buying an additional 4,176 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.14% of the company’s stock.

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.