Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management UK Ltd. Sells 4,000 Shares of EastGroup Properties, Inc. (NYSE:EGP)

Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management UK Ltd. trimmed its stake in EastGroup Properties, Inc. (NYSE:EGP - Free Report) by 36.4% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 7,000 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock after selling 4,000 shares during the quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management UK Ltd.'s holdings in EastGroup Properties were worth $1,308,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. CANADA LIFE ASSURANCE Co boosted its position in shares of EastGroup Properties by 5.9% in the first quarter. CANADA LIFE ASSURANCE Co now owns 95,952 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $17,242,000 after acquiring an additional 5,342 shares during the last quarter. Tidal Investments LLC grew its position in shares of EastGroup Properties by 30.4% during the first quarter. Tidal Investments LLC now owns 18,316 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $3,293,000 after buying an additional 4,271 shares in the last quarter. Atria Investments Inc increased its position in shares of EastGroup Properties by 48.9% in the 1st quarter. Atria Investments Inc now owns 11,389 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $2,047,000 after purchasing an additional 3,740 shares during the last quarter. Vaughan Nelson Investment Management L.P. raised its stake in EastGroup Properties by 30.1% during the second quarter. Vaughan Nelson Investment Management L.P. now owns 280,759 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $47,757,000 after buying an additional 64,984 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Vanguard Group Inc. raised its position in shares of EastGroup Properties by 3.2% during the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 6,863,129 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $1,233,785,000 after acquiring an additional 210,207 shares in the last quarter. 92.14% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts have issued reports on EGP shares. Evercore ISI raised their target price on shares of EastGroup Properties from $204.00 to $205.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Monday, October 7th. Morgan Stanley lifted their price target on shares of EastGroup Properties from $158.00 to $186.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Thursday, August 22nd. Barclays dropped their target price 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. Wedbush lifted their target price on shares of EastGroup Properties from $208.00 to $209.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Monday, August 5th. Finally, KeyCorp boosted their target price on shares of EastGroup Properties from $178.00 to $198.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 30th. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $191.73.

EastGroup Properties Stock Performance

Shares of EGP traded up $0.81 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $182.83. The stock had a trading volume of 245,413 shares, compared to its average volume of 294,808. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $184.33 and a 200-day simple moving average of $175.28. EastGroup Properties, Inc. has a one year low of $154.75 and a one year high of $192.61. The firm has a market cap of $8.80 billion, a PE ratio of 39.66, a P/E/G ratio of 2.65 and a beta of 0.99. The company has a current ratio of 0.21, a quick ratio of 0.21 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.60.

EastGroup Properties (NYSE:EGP - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, July 23rd. The real estate investment trust reported $1.14 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $2.05 by ($0.91). EastGroup Properties had a return on equity of 8.69% and a net margin of 37.16%. The company had revenue of $159.09 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $156.70 million. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $1.89 EPS. The company's quarterly revenue was up 13.7% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that EastGroup Properties, Inc. will post 8.32 EPS for the current year.

EastGroup Properties Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, October 15th. Investors of record on Monday, September 30th were given a dividend of $1.40 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, September 30th. This represents a $5.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.06%. This is a positive change from EastGroup Properties's previous quarterly dividend of $1.27. EastGroup Properties's dividend payout ratio is presently 121.48%.

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.