Analysts Set EastGroup Properties, Inc. (NYSE:EGP) Price Target at $191.56

EastGroup Properties, Inc. (NYSE:EGP) has earned an average recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the seventeen analysts that are currently covering the company, MarketBeat.com reports. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation, nine have given a buy recommendation and one has issued a strong buy recommendation on the company. The average 1 year price objective among analysts that have covered the stock in the last year is $190.88.

A number of brokerages have issued reports on EGP. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed a “sector perform” rating and issued a $186.00 target price on shares of EastGroup Properties in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. Raymond James raised shares of EastGroup Properties from an “outperform” rating to a “strong-buy” rating and raised their price objective for the stock from $185.00 to $200.00 in a research note on Wednesday, December 11th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft started coverage on shares of EastGroup Properties in a research note on Tuesday. They set a “buy” rating and a $180.00 price objective for the company. Evercore ISI raised their price objective on shares of EastGroup Properties from $204.00 to $205.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, October 7th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price target on shares of EastGroup Properties from $214.00 to $199.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, November 4th.

EastGroup Properties Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:EGP opened at $161.35 on Monday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.08, a current ratio of 0.08 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.57. The company has a market cap of $7.99 billion, a P/E ratio of 33.34, a PEG ratio of 1.88 and a beta of 1.00. EastGroup Properties has a 52 week low of $155.10 and a 52 week high of $192.61. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $166.46 and a 200 day moving average price of $176.80.

EastGroup Properties (NYSE:EGP) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, October 23rd. The real estate investment trust reported $1.13 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.10 by ($0.97). EastGroup Properties had a net margin of 37.19% and a return on equity of 8.56%. The company had revenue of $162.88 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $161.52 million. During the same period last year, the business posted $1.95 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 11.2% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts predict that EastGroup Properties will post 8.34 earnings per share for the current year.

EastGroup Properties Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, January 15th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, December 31st were given a $1.40 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, December 31st. This represents a $5.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.47%. EastGroup Properties’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 115.70%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On EastGroup Properties

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in EGP. FMR LLC grew its position in EastGroup Properties by 67.9% during the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 1,558,083 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $291,081,000 after purchasing an additional 629,827 shares in the last quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC grew its position in EastGroup Properties by 355.1% during the 3rd quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 391,594 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $73,158,000 after purchasing an additional 305,555 shares in the last quarter. Millennium Management LLC grew its position in EastGroup Properties by 202.1% during the 2nd quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 188,336 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $32,036,000 after purchasing an additional 125,991 shares in the last quarter. Vision Capital Corp acquired a new stake in shares of EastGroup Properties during the 3rd quarter valued at $18,308,000. Finally, Thrivent Financial for Lutherans boosted its stake in shares of EastGroup Properties by 73.7% during the 2nd quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans now owns 151,103 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $25,702,000 after buying an additional 64,099 shares during the period. 92.14% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.