EastGroup Properties, Inc. (NYSE:EGP) Short Interest Up 26.3% in February

EastGroup Properties, Inc. (NYSE:EGP - Get Free Report) was the recipient of a significant increase in short interest in February. As of February 15th, there was short interest totalling 1,440,000 shares, an increase of 26.3% from the January 31st total of 1,140,000 shares. Based on an average trading volume of 372,600 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 3.9 days.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On EastGroup Properties

A number of institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of EGP. Crowley Wealth Management Inc. acquired a new stake in EastGroup Properties during the fourth quarter worth $29,000. Canton Hathaway LLC bought a new position in shares of EastGroup Properties during the fourth quarter valued at $30,000. Thurston Springer Miller Herd & Titak Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of EastGroup Properties by 503.3% during the fourth quarter. Thurston Springer Miller Herd & Titak Inc. now owns 362 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $58,000 after acquiring an additional 302 shares during the period. Principal Securities Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of EastGroup Properties by 18.5% during the fourth quarter. Principal Securities Inc. now owns 538 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $86,000 after acquiring an additional 84 shares during the period. Finally, Versant Capital Management Inc lifted its holdings in shares of EastGroup Properties by 18.7% during the fourth 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 period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.14% of the company's stock.

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Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages recently weighed in on EGP. Raymond James raised shares of EastGroup Properties from an "outperform" rating to a "strong-buy" rating and raised their price objective for the company from $185.00 to $200.00 in a research report on Wednesday, December 11th. Truist Financial raised their price objective on shares of EastGroup Properties from $168.00 to $180.00 and gave the company a "hold" rating in a research report on Friday, February 14th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft initiated coverage on shares of EastGroup Properties in a research report on Tuesday, January 14th. They set a "buy" rating and a $180.00 price objective on the stock. Robert W. Baird increased their price target on EastGroup Properties from $192.00 to $194.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Wednesday, February 19th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group upgraded EastGroup Properties from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and increased their price target for the company from $174.00 to $194.00 in a report on Thursday, January 2nd. Eight research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nine have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $191.65.

EastGroup Properties Stock Performance

Shares of EastGroup Properties stock traded down $1.04 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $184.51. The company had a trading volume of 562,513 shares, compared to its average volume of 322,222. EastGroup Properties has a 1-year low of $155.10 and a 1-year 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 business's 50 day simple moving average is $171.47 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $175.31. The stock has a market cap of $9.60 billion, a PE ratio of 39.68, a P/E/G ratio of 3.35 and a beta of 0.99.

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

EastGroup Properties Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 15th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 31st will be paid a dividend of $1.40 per share. This represents a $5.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.04%. EastGroup Properties's dividend payout ratio is currently 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.