EastGroup Properties (NYSE:EGP) Raised to Outperform at Evercore ISI

Evercore ISI upgraded shares of EastGroup Properties (NYSE:EGP) from an in-line rating to an outperform rating in a research note issued to investors on Monday, MarketBeat reports. They currently have $204.00 price objective on the real estate investment trust’s stock, up from their prior price objective of $192.00.

A number of other equities analysts have also recently issued reports on EGP. Wedbush upped their price objective on EastGroup Properties from $208.00 to $209.00 and gave the stock an outperform rating in a report on Monday, August 5th. BNP Paribas began coverage on EastGroup Properties in a report on Tuesday, June 4th. They issued a neutral rating and a $167.00 price objective for the company. Mizuho upgraded EastGroup Properties from a neutral rating to an outperform rating and upped their price objective for the stock from $175.00 to $200.00 in a report on Thursday, September 5th. Royal Bank of Canada upped their price objective on EastGroup Properties from $172.00 to $186.00 and gave the stock a sector perform rating in a report on Tuesday, July 30th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company upgraded EastGroup Properties from an equal weight rating to an overweight rating and increased their target price for the company from $179.00 to $214.00 in a report on Wednesday, August 28th. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and an average price target of $192.00.

EastGroup Properties Stock Performance

EastGroup Properties stock opened at $189.49 on Monday. EastGroup Properties has a fifty-two week low of $154.75 and a fifty-two week high of $192.61. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.60, a quick ratio of 0.21 and a current ratio of 0.21. The stock has a market cap of $9.12 billion, a P/E ratio of 41.10, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.74 and a beta of 0.99. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $184.97 and its 200-day moving average price is $174.53.

EastGroup Properties (NYSE:EGP) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, July 23rd. The real estate investment trust reported $1.14 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.05 by ($0.91). EastGroup Properties had a net margin of 37.16% and a return on equity of 8.69%. The firm had revenue of $159.09 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $156.70 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $1.89 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 13.7% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts expect that EastGroup Properties will post 8.32 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

EastGroup Properties Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, October 15th. Shareholders of record on Monday, September 30th will be issued a $1.40 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, September 30th. This represents a $5.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.96%. This is a boost from EastGroup Properties’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.27. EastGroup Properties’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 121.48%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On EastGroup Properties

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Gradient Investments LLC bought a new position in shares of EastGroup Properties in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $32,000. Quest Partners LLC raised its position in shares of EastGroup Properties by 10,400.0% in the 2nd quarter. Quest Partners LLC now owns 210 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $36,000 after acquiring an additional 208 shares in the last quarter. Mather Group LLC. bought a new position in shares of EastGroup Properties in the 1st quarter worth approximately $42,000. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC raised its position in shares of EastGroup Properties by 1,938.5% in the 4th quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 265 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $49,000 after acquiring an additional 252 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. bought a new position in shares of EastGroup Properties in the 4th quarter worth approximately $55,000. 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.