Alliancebernstein L.P. Decreases Stake in EastGroup Properties, Inc. (NYSE:EGP)

Alliancebernstein L.P. trimmed its stake in EastGroup Properties, Inc. (NYSE:EGP - Free Report) by 7.4% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 72,568 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock after selling 5,762 shares during the period. Alliancebernstein L.P. owned about 0.15% of EastGroup Properties worth $11,646,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its position in shares of EastGroup Properties by 1.0% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 6,990,950 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $1,121,978,000 after buying an additional 72,199 shares during the period. Boston Partners grew its position in EastGroup Properties by 34.1% in the 4th quarter. Boston Partners now owns 1,056,232 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $169,533,000 after acquiring an additional 268,359 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its stake in EastGroup Properties by 1.2% during the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 899,219 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $168,032,000 after purchasing an additional 10,435 shares during the period. Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new position in shares of EastGroup Properties in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $116,756,000. Finally, Daiwa Securities Group Inc. grew its holdings in shares of EastGroup Properties by 210.6% in the fourth quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. now owns 707,732 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $113,584,000 after purchasing an additional 479,873 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.14% of the company's stock.

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Analysts Set New Price Targets

EGP has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Jefferies Financial Group raised EastGroup Properties from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and upped their price objective for the stock from $174.00 to $194.00 in a research report on Thursday, January 2nd. Evercore ISI reaffirmed an "in-line" rating and issued a $185.00 target price (up previously from $181.00) on shares of EastGroup Properties in a report on Monday, March 17th. 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 report on Monday, December 30th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft assumed 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 for the company. Finally, Robert W. Baird raised their target price on EastGroup Properties from $192.00 to $194.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 19th. Nine analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $188.82.

EastGroup Properties Stock Performance

EGP stock traded up $0.47 during trading on Tuesday, hitting $157.07. The company had a trading volume of 52,831 shares, compared to its average volume of 364,392. EastGroup Properties, Inc. has a 1-year low of $137.67 and a 1-year high of $192.61. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $174.38 and a 200-day moving average price of $171.89. The company has a quick ratio of 0.12, a current ratio of 0.12 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.46. The firm has a market cap of $8.17 billion, a PE ratio of 33.78, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.35 and a beta of 0.94.

EastGroup Properties (NYSE:EGP - Get Free Report) 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%. On average, analysts expect that EastGroup Properties, Inc. will post 8.94 earnings per share for the current year.

EastGroup Properties Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 15th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 31st will be issued a $1.40 dividend. This represents a $5.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.57%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 31st. EastGroup Properties's dividend payout ratio is presently 120.43%.

EastGroup Properties Company Profile

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.