Quest Partners LLC Boosts Stock Holdings in EastGroup Properties, Inc. (NYSE:EGP)

Quest Partners LLC boosted its stake in shares of EastGroup Properties, Inc. (NYSE:EGP - Free Report) by 3,258.6% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 7,053 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock after buying an additional 6,843 shares during the quarter. Quest Partners LLC's holdings in EastGroup Properties were worth $1,318,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. V Square Quantitative Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of 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 valued at $35,000 after acquiring an additional 61 shares in the last quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its stake in shares of EastGroup Properties by 30.2% during the 1st quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 345 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $62,000 after purchasing an additional 80 shares during the last quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC lifted its holdings in shares of EastGroup Properties by 7.1% during the third 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 during the period. 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, Nisa Investment Advisors LLC grew its holdings in EastGroup Properties by 0.3% in the 2nd quarter. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC now owns 31,093 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $5,328,000 after buying an additional 103 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.14% of the company's stock.

EastGroup Properties Price Performance

Shares of EGP traded down $3.10 during trading hours on Wednesday, reaching $171.01. 299,949 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 303,373. The company has a market cap of $8.47 billion, a P/E ratio of 35.97, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.23 and a beta of 1.00. The company's 50-day moving average price is $180.01 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $176.87. EastGroup Properties, Inc. has a 52-week low of $155.23 and a 52-week high of $192.61. The company has a current ratio of 0.08, a quick ratio of 0.08 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.57.

EastGroup Properties (NYSE:EGP - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, October 23rd. The real estate investment trust reported $1.13 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.10 by ($0.97). EastGroup Properties had a return on equity of 8.56% and a net margin of 37.19%. The firm had revenue of $162.88 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $161.52 million. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $1.95 EPS. EastGroup Properties's revenue was up 11.2% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts anticipate that EastGroup Properties, Inc. will post 8.36 earnings per share for the current year.

EastGroup Properties Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, October 15th. Shareholders of record on Monday, September 30th were issued a dividend of $1.40 per share. This is a positive change from EastGroup Properties's previous quarterly dividend of $1.27. This represents a $5.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.27%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, September 30th. EastGroup Properties's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 115.70%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms recently commented on EGP. Morgan Stanley upped their price target on shares of EastGroup Properties from $158.00 to $186.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Thursday, August 22nd. Wedbush reiterated an "outperform" rating and set a $209.00 target price on shares of EastGroup Properties in a research note on Friday, October 25th. KeyCorp increased their price objective on shares of EastGroup Properties from $178.00 to $198.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Tuesday, July 30th. StockNews.com downgraded shares of EastGroup Properties from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a research report on Monday, October 28th. Finally, Barclays lowered 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. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $191.21.

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.