EastGroup Properties (NYSE:EGP) Rating Increased to Strong-Buy at Raymond James

Raymond James upgraded shares of EastGroup Properties (NYSE:EGP - Free Report) from an outperform rating to a strong-buy rating in a report released on Wednesday morning, MarketBeat reports. They currently have $200.00 price objective on the real estate investment trust's stock, up from their prior price objective of $185.00.

A number of other research firms also recently weighed in on EGP. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed a "sector perform" rating and issued a $186.00 target price on shares of EastGroup Properties in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. Truist Financial cut their price target on EastGroup Properties from $190.00 to $186.00 and set a "hold" rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, November 13th. Wedbush reiterated an "outperform" rating and set a $209.00 price objective on shares of EastGroup Properties in a research note on Friday, October 25th. Morgan Stanley increased their target price on EastGroup Properties from $158.00 to $186.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Thursday, August 22nd. Finally, Barclays lowered their price target on EastGroup Properties from $198.00 to $193.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, October 10th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating, eight have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $191.80.

EastGroup Properties Trading Up 0.2 %

Shares of EGP traded up $0.41 during trading hours on Wednesday, reaching $170.66. 343,258 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 302,765. EastGroup Properties has a 12 month low of $155.23 and a 12 month high of $192.61. The company has a market capitalization of $8.45 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 35.18, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.18 and a beta of 0.99. The company's fifty day moving average price is $175.04 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $177.66. The company has a quick ratio of 0.08, a current 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 for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $2.10 by ($0.97). The firm had revenue of $162.88 million for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $161.52 million. EastGroup Properties had a return on equity of 8.56% and a net margin of 37.19%. The firm's revenue was up 11.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $1.95 EPS. Equities research analysts predict that EastGroup Properties will post 8.36 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

EastGroup Properties Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, January 15th. Investors of record on Tuesday, December 31st will be issued a $1.40 dividend. This represents a $5.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.28%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, December 31st. EastGroup Properties's payout ratio is currently 115.70%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On EastGroup Properties

Several institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in EGP. Franklin Resources Inc. lifted its position in EastGroup Properties by 337.0% during the third quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 49,097 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $8,728,000 after purchasing an additional 37,863 shares in the last quarter. Tidal Investments LLC lifted its position in shares of EastGroup Properties by 23.2% during the 3rd quarter. Tidal Investments LLC now owns 30,905 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $5,774,000 after buying an additional 5,811 shares in the last quarter. Sanctuary Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of EastGroup Properties by 46.7% during the 3rd quarter. Sanctuary Advisors LLC now owns 7,370 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $1,267,000 after acquiring an additional 2,347 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its stake in shares of EastGroup Properties by 1.2% during the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 899,219 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $168,032,000 after acquiring an additional 10,435 shares during the period. Finally, M&T Bank Corp raised its stake in EastGroup Properties by 15.5% during the 3rd quarter. M&T Bank Corp now owns 13,414 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $2,506,000 after acquiring an additional 1,801 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 92.14% of the company's stock.

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.