Aurora Investment Counsel Sells 63 Shares of EastGroup Properties, Inc. (NYSE:EGP)

Aurora Investment Counsel cut its holdings in EastGroup Properties, Inc. (NYSE:EGP) by 0.7% in the third quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 9,500 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after selling 63 shares during the period. Aurora Investment Counsel’s holdings in EastGroup Properties were worth $1,775,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Ceredex Value Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in EastGroup Properties during the second quarter valued at approximately $35,131,000. Boston Partners boosted its holdings in shares of EastGroup Properties by 26.1% in the 1st quarter. Boston Partners now owns 953,736 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $171,399,000 after acquiring an additional 197,427 shares in the last quarter. Zimmer Partners LP boosted its holdings in shares of EastGroup Properties by 465.6% in the 1st quarter. Zimmer Partners LP now owns 200,558 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $36,054,000 after acquiring an additional 165,100 shares in the last quarter. Millennium Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of EastGroup Properties by 202.1% in the 2nd quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 188,336 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $32,036,000 after acquiring an additional 125,991 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD boosted its holdings in shares of EastGroup Properties by 7.9% in the 1st quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 975,450 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $175,359,000 after acquiring an additional 71,614 shares in the last quarter. 92.14% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

EastGroup Properties Price Performance

Shares of EastGroup Properties stock opened at $171.01 on Thursday. EastGroup Properties, Inc. has a 52-week low of $155.23 and a 52-week high of $192.61. The stock has a market capitalization of $8.47 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 35.33, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.26 and a beta of 1.00. The company has a fifty day moving average of $179.76 and a 200-day moving average of $176.83. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.57, a quick ratio of 0.08 and a current ratio of 0.08.

EastGroup Properties (NYSE:EGP) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, October 23rd. The real estate investment trust reported $1.13 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.10 by ($0.97). The company had revenue of $162.88 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $161.52 million. EastGroup Properties had a return on equity of 8.56% and a net margin of 37.19%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 11.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $1.95 earnings per share. Equities research analysts expect that EastGroup Properties, Inc. will post 8.36 EPS for the current year.

EastGroup Properties Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, October 15th. Shareholders of record on Monday, September 30th were paid a dividend of $1.40 per share. This is a positive change from EastGroup Properties’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.27. This represents a $5.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.27%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, September 30th. EastGroup Properties’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 115.70%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

EGP has been the subject of several research analyst reports. Royal Bank of Canada restated a “sector perform” rating and issued a $186.00 price objective on shares of EastGroup Properties in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. Morgan Stanley upped their target price on shares of EastGroup Properties from $158.00 to $186.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 22nd. Wedbush reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $209.00 target price on shares of EastGroup Properties in a research report on Friday, October 25th. KeyCorp upped their target price on shares of EastGroup Properties from $178.00 to $198.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 30th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price objective on shares of EastGroup Properties from $214.00 to $199.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, November 4th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $191.21.

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.