MetLife Investment Management LLC Acquires 2,690 Shares of EastGroup Properties, Inc. (NYSE:EGP)

MetLife Investment Management LLC raised its position in EastGroup Properties, Inc. (NYSE:EGP - Free Report) by 10.1% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 29,307 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock after buying an additional 2,690 shares during the quarter. MetLife Investment Management LLC owned about 0.06% of EastGroup Properties worth $4,703,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in EGP. Natixis bought a new stake in shares of EastGroup Properties during the 4th quarter worth $824,000. Ostrum Asset Management lifted its holdings in shares of EastGroup Properties by 54.3% in the fourth quarter. Ostrum Asset Management now owns 12,260 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $1,968,000 after acquiring an additional 4,315 shares during the last quarter. Curi RMB Capital LLC boosted its stake in shares of EastGroup Properties by 6.0% in the 4th quarter. Curi RMB Capital LLC now owns 136,373 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $21,886,000 after purchasing an additional 7,711 shares in the last quarter. First Trust Advisors LP grew its holdings in shares of EastGroup Properties by 3.1% during the 4th quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 23,541 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $3,778,000 after purchasing an additional 710 shares during the last quarter. Finally, GeoWealth Management LLC increased its position in EastGroup Properties by 67.1% during the 4th quarter. GeoWealth Management LLC now owns 867 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $139,000 after purchasing an additional 348 shares in the last quarter. 92.14% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts have weighed in on the stock. Morgan Stanley cut their target price on shares of EastGroup Properties from $186.00 to $180.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, December 30th. Piper Sandler cut their price objective on EastGroup Properties from $175.00 to $172.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, April 15th. Raymond James set a $190.00 target price on EastGroup Properties and gave the stock a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Monday, April 14th. Truist Financial raised EastGroup Properties from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $180.00 price target on the stock in a research note on Thursday, April 10th. Finally, StockNews.com raised EastGroup Properties from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Sunday. Nine equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, EastGroup Properties currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $187.81.

EastGroup Properties Trading Up 0.2 %

NYSE EGP traded up $0.26 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $163.18. 446,188 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 367,462. 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 market cap of $8.53 billion, a P/E ratio of 35.09, a P/E/G ratio of 3.35 and a beta of 0.94. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $171.05 and a 200-day simple moving average of $170.59. EastGroup Properties, Inc. has a one year low of $137.67 and a one year high of $192.61.

EastGroup Properties (NYSE:EGP - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 23rd. The real estate investment trust reported $2.12 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $2.11 by $0.01. EastGroup Properties had a return on equity of 7.89% and a net margin of 35.57%. The company had revenue of $174.45 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $169.67 million. On average, analysts anticipate that EastGroup Properties, Inc. will post 8.94 EPS for the current year.

EastGroup Properties Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, April 15th. Stockholders 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 3.43%. EastGroup Properties's dividend payout ratio is currently 122.54%.

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.