EastGroup Properties, Inc. (NYSE:EGP) Receives $191.56 Average Target Price from Brokerages

Shares of EastGroup Properties, Inc. (NYSE:EGP - Get Free Report) have been given an average recommendation of "Moderate Buy" by the sixteen brokerages that are presently covering the company, MarketBeat reports. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating on the company. The average 12-month price objective among brokerages that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $191.56.

Several research firms have commented on EGP. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated a "sector perform" rating and set a $186.00 price objective on shares of EastGroup Properties in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. Barclays decreased their price objective on EastGroup Properties from $198.00 to $193.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, October 10th. Raymond James raised EastGroup Properties from an "outperform" rating to a "strong-buy" rating and raised their target price for the stock from $185.00 to $200.00 in a research note on Wednesday, December 11th. KeyCorp reaffirmed a "sector weight" rating on shares of EastGroup Properties in a research note on Tuesday, December 17th. Finally, Wedbush reiterated an "outperform" rating and set a $209.00 price target on shares of EastGroup Properties in a report on Friday, October 25th.

Institutional Trading of EastGroup Properties

Several hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of EGP. V Square Quantitative Management LLC grew its position in EastGroup Properties by 47.7% during the third quarter. V Square Quantitative Management LLC now owns 189 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $35,000 after buying an additional 61 shares during the period. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC increased its stake in shares of EastGroup Properties by 7.1% during the 3rd quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 1,350 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $252,000 after purchasing an additional 90 shares in the last quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc increased its stake in shares of EastGroup Properties by 18.7% during the 4th quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 602 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $97,000 after acquiring an additional 95 shares during the last quarter. Azzad Asset Management Inc. ADV grew its holdings in EastGroup Properties by 4.9% in the third quarter. Azzad Asset Management Inc. ADV now owns 2,085 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $389,000 after purchasing an additional 98 shares during the period. Finally, UMB Bank n.a. increased its position in EastGroup Properties by 7.7% during the third quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 1,598 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $299,000 after purchasing an additional 114 shares during the last quarter. 92.14% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

EastGroup Properties Price Performance

NYSE:EGP opened at $153.99 on Monday. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $167.67 and a 200-day moving average price of $177.18. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.57, a current ratio of 0.08 and a quick ratio of 0.08. EastGroup Properties has a 1-year low of $153.99 and a 1-year high of $192.61. The firm has a market cap of $7.62 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.82, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.23 and a beta of 1.00.

EastGroup Properties (NYSE:EGP - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly 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). The company had revenue of $162.88 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $161.52 million. EastGroup Properties had a net margin of 37.19% and a return on equity of 8.56%. EastGroup Properties's revenue was up 11.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $1.95 EPS. Equities research analysts forecast that EastGroup Properties will post 8.35 EPS for the current year.

EastGroup Properties Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, January 15th. Investors of record on Tuesday, December 31st will be given a $1.40 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, December 31st. This represents a $5.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.64%. EastGroup Properties's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 115.70%.

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.