M&T Bank Corp Decreases Holdings in EastGroup Properties, Inc. (NYSE:EGP)

M&T Bank Corp reduced its position in EastGroup Properties, Inc. (NYSE:EGP) by 4.0% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 12,880 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after selling 534 shares during the period. M&T Bank Corp’s holdings in EastGroup Properties were worth $2,067,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other large investors also recently modified their holdings of EGP. Canton Hathaway LLC bought a new position in EastGroup Properties in the fourth quarter valued at about $30,000. Thurston Springer Miller Herd & Titak Inc. increased its position in shares of EastGroup Properties by 503.3% during 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 during the last quarter. Principal Securities Inc. lifted 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 worth $86,000 after purchasing an additional 84 shares during the period. Quarry LP purchased a new position in shares of EastGroup Properties in the third quarter worth approximately $102,000. Finally, Versant Capital Management Inc grew its position in 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 valued at $97,000 after buying an additional 95 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 92.14% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts have weighed in on the stock. Raymond James upgraded shares of EastGroup Properties from an “outperform” rating to a “strong-buy” rating and increased their price target for the stock from $185.00 to $200.00 in a research report on Wednesday, December 11th. KeyCorp reissued a “sector weight” rating on shares of EastGroup Properties in a report on Tuesday, December 17th. StockNews.com raised EastGroup Properties from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, February 10th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft started coverage on shares of EastGroup Properties in a research note on Tuesday, January 14th. They set a “buy” rating and a $180.00 target price on the stock. Finally, Robert W. Baird upped their price target on shares of EastGroup Properties from $192.00 to $194.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 19th. Eight investment 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 data from MarketBeat, EastGroup Properties has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $191.65.

EastGroup Properties Stock Down 0.6 %

NYSE EGP opened at $184.51 on Monday. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $171.47 and a 200-day moving average price of $175.25. EastGroup Properties, Inc. has a one year low of $155.10 and a one year high of $192.61. The company has a market capitalization of $9.60 billion, a P/E ratio of 39.68, 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.

EastGroup Properties (NYSE:EGP) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 6th. The real estate investment trust reported $2.15 EPS for the quarter, topping 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, equities analysts predict that EastGroup Properties, Inc. will post 8.94 EPS 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. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 31st will be paid a dividend of $1.40 per share. This represents a $5.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.04%. 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.