Principal Financial Group Inc. Trims Stock Position in EastGroup Properties, Inc. (NYSE:EGP)

Principal Financial Group Inc. trimmed its holdings in shares of EastGroup Properties, Inc. (NYSE:EGP - Free Report) by 5.9% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 365,796 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock after selling 22,915 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc. owned about 0.74% of EastGroup Properties worth $68,331,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. V Square Quantitative Management LLC raised its holdings in EastGroup Properties by 47.7% during the 3rd quarter. V Square Quantitative Management LLC now owns 189 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $35,000 after buying an additional 61 shares during the last quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC increased its position in shares of EastGroup Properties by 7.1% in the third quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 1,350 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $252,000 after acquiring an additional 90 shares during the period. Azzad Asset Management Inc. ADV raised its stake in shares of EastGroup Properties by 4.9% during 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 acquiring an additional 98 shares during the last quarter. UMB Bank n.a. raised its stake in shares of EastGroup Properties by 7.7% during the third quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 1,598 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $299,000 after acquiring an additional 114 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Creative Planning boosted its holdings in shares of EastGroup Properties by 4.8% during the third quarter. Creative Planning now owns 2,555 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $477,000 after purchasing an additional 117 shares during the period. 92.14% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts recently issued reports on the company. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price target on EastGroup Properties from $214.00 to $199.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a report on Monday, November 4th. Evercore ISI boosted their price target on shares of EastGroup Properties from $204.00 to $205.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Monday, October 7th. KeyCorp restated a "sector weight" rating on shares of EastGroup Properties in a report on Tuesday, December 17th. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated a "sector perform" rating and set a $186.00 target price on shares of EastGroup Properties in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. Finally, Mizuho raised EastGroup Properties from a "neutral" rating to an "outperform" rating and increased their target price for the stock from $175.00 to $200.00 in a research report on Thursday, September 5th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating, seven have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $191.80.

EastGroup Properties Stock Up 1.7 %

Shares of NYSE:EGP traded up $2.70 on Friday, hitting $161.44. 1,002,694 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 305,348. The company has a market cap of $7.99 billion, a PE ratio of 33.36, a PEG ratio of 2.22 and a beta of 0.99. EastGroup Properties, Inc. has a 52 week low of $155.23 and a 52 week high of $192.61. The company has a quick ratio of 0.08, a current ratio of 0.08 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.57. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $173.06 and a 200-day simple moving average of $177.80.

EastGroup Properties (NYSE:EGP - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 23rd. The real estate investment trust reported $1.13 earnings per share 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 business had revenue of $162.88 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $161.52 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $1.95 EPS. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 11.2% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts expect that EastGroup Properties, Inc. will post 8.36 earnings per share for the current year.

EastGroup Properties Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, January 15th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, December 31st will be paid a $1.40 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, December 31st. This represents a $5.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.47%. EastGroup Properties's dividend payout ratio is presently 115.70%.

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.