EastGroup Properties (NYSE:EGP) Releases Earnings Results, Misses Expectations By $0.97 EPS

EastGroup Properties (NYSE:EGP - Get Free Report) posted its earnings results on Wednesday. The real estate investment trust reported $1.13 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.10 by ($0.97), Yahoo Finance reports. EastGroup Properties had a return on equity of 8.69% and a net margin of 37.16%. The business had revenue of $162.88 million for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $161.52 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $1.95 EPS. EastGroup Properties's revenue for the quarter was up 11.2% compared to the same quarter last year.

EastGroup Properties Stock Performance

NYSE EGP traded down $2.00 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $176.53. 540,195 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 297,799. The company has a quick ratio of 0.21, a current ratio of 0.21 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.60. The company has a market cap of $8.50 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 38.29, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.65 and a beta of 0.99. EastGroup Properties has a 12-month low of $155.23 and a 12-month high of $192.61. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $184.09 and a 200 day moving average of $175.43.

EastGroup Properties Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, October 15th. Stockholders of record on Monday, September 30th were paid a dividend of $1.40 per share. This represents a $5.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.17%. This is a positive change from EastGroup Properties's previous quarterly dividend of $1.27. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, September 30th. EastGroup Properties's payout ratio is 121.48%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

EGP has been the subject of a number of research reports. KeyCorp boosted their price target on shares of EastGroup Properties from $178.00 to $198.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 30th. Wedbush reissued an "outperform" rating and issued a $209.00 target price on shares of EastGroup Properties in a report on Friday. Royal Bank of Canada raised their price target on EastGroup Properties from $172.00 to $186.00 and gave the stock a "sector perform" rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 30th. Barclays reduced their price objective on EastGroup Properties from $198.00 to $193.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, October 10th. Finally, Mizuho upgraded shares of EastGroup Properties from a "neutral" rating to an "outperform" rating and raised their target price for the stock from $175.00 to $200.00 in a research report on Thursday, September 5th. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $191.73.

About EastGroup Properties

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.