Cohen & Steers Inc. Purchases 1,673,663 Shares of EastGroup Properties, Inc. (NYSE:EGP)

Cohen & Steers Inc. raised its stake in EastGroup Properties, Inc. (NYSE:EGP - Free Report) by 141.6% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 2,855,920 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock after purchasing an additional 1,673,663 shares during the quarter. EastGroup Properties makes up about 0.9% of Cohen & Steers Inc.'s portfolio, making the stock its 26th biggest holding. Cohen & Steers Inc. owned 5.77% of EastGroup Properties worth $458,347,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in EGP. Franklin Resources Inc. grew its stake in shares of EastGroup Properties by 337.0% in the third quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 49,097 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $8,728,000 after buying an additional 37,863 shares in the last quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC increased its stake in shares of EastGroup Properties by 20.4% during the 4th quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 1,625 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $261,000 after purchasing an additional 275 shares during the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp increased its stake in shares of EastGroup Properties by 5.5% during the 4th quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 452,429 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $72,610,000 after purchasing an additional 23,626 shares during the last quarter. BankPlus Trust Department bought a new stake in shares of EastGroup Properties in the 4th quarter valued at about $1,871,000. Finally, Nordea Investment Management AB lifted its stake in EastGroup Properties by 6.1% in the 4th quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 72,392 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $11,667,000 after purchasing an additional 4,176 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.14% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts have issued reports on the company. Morgan Stanley dropped their price objective on EastGroup Properties from $186.00 to $180.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, December 30th. Piper Sandler cut their target price on shares of EastGroup Properties from $175.00 to $172.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday. StockNews.com downgraded EastGroup Properties from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a research note on Saturday. Jefferies Financial Group upgraded shares of EastGroup Properties from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and lifted their price objective for the stock from $174.00 to $194.00 in a research note on Thursday, January 2nd. Finally, Truist Financial upgraded shares of EastGroup Properties from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $180.00 target price on the stock in a research report on Thursday, April 10th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating, eight have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $188.24.

EastGroup Properties Price Performance

NYSE:EGP traded up $1.63 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $159.69. The company's stock had a trading volume of 332,278 shares, compared to its average volume of 366,318. EastGroup Properties, Inc. has a twelve month low of $137.67 and a twelve month high of $192.61. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.46, a current ratio of 0.12 and a quick ratio of 0.12. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $172.99 and a 200-day simple moving average of $171.34. The company has a market capitalization of $8.35 billion, a P/E ratio of 34.34, a PEG ratio of 3.35 and a beta of 0.94.

EastGroup Properties (NYSE:EGP - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 6th. The real estate investment trust reported $2.15 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.16 by $0.99. EastGroup Properties had a net margin of 35.57% and a return on equity of 7.89%. On average, analysts anticipate that EastGroup Properties, Inc. will post 8.94 EPS for the current fiscal year.

EastGroup Properties Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, April 15th. Investors of record on Monday, March 31st were paid a $1.40 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, March 31st. This represents a $5.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.51%. EastGroup Properties's dividend payout ratio is 120.43%.

EastGroup Properties 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.