Short Interest in EastGroup Properties, Inc. (NYSE:EGP) Expands By 35.4%

EastGroup Properties, Inc. (NYSE:EGP - Get Free Report) saw a significant growth in short interest in February. As of February 28th, there was short interest totalling 1,950,000 shares, a growth of 35.4% from the February 13th total of 1,440,000 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 404,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 4.8 days. Currently, 3.8% of the shares of the company are short sold.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts recently issued reports on EGP shares. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft began coverage on EastGroup Properties in a research report on Tuesday, January 14th. They set a "buy" rating and a $180.00 target price for the company. Jefferies Financial Group upgraded shares of EastGroup Properties from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and increased their price target for the stock from $174.00 to $194.00 in a report on Thursday, January 2nd. Truist Financial lifted their price objective on shares of EastGroup Properties from $168.00 to $180.00 and gave the company a "hold" rating in a report on Friday, February 14th. Morgan Stanley dropped their price target on EastGroup Properties from $186.00 to $180.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a research report on Monday, December 30th. Finally, KeyCorp reaffirmed a "sector weight" rating on shares of EastGroup Properties in a research note on Tuesday, December 17th. Eight analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nine have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, EastGroup Properties has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $191.65.

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EastGroup Properties Trading Up 1.9 %

Shares of EGP stock traded up $3.38 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $179.96. The company's stock had a trading volume of 436,346 shares, compared to its average volume of 323,010. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.46, a quick ratio of 0.12 and a current ratio of 0.12. EastGroup Properties has a 52 week low of $155.10 and a 52 week high of $192.61. The company's fifty day simple moving average is $173.46 and its 200-day simple moving average is $175.03. The company has a market cap of $9.36 billion, a PE ratio of 38.70, a P/E/G ratio of 3.35 and a beta of 0.99.

EastGroup Properties (NYSE:EGP - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 6th. The real estate investment trust reported $2.15 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate 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 research analysts expect that EastGroup Properties will post 8.94 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

EastGroup Properties Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 15th. Investors of record on Monday, March 31st will be given a dividend of $1.40 per share. This represents a $5.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.11%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 31st. EastGroup Properties's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 120.43%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On EastGroup Properties

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. grew its stake in shares of EastGroup Properties by 11.2% during the third quarter. Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. now owns 16,394 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $3,063,000 after buying an additional 1,648 shares during the last quarter. Metis Global Partners LLC boosted its stake in EastGroup Properties by 31.3% in the third quarter. Metis Global Partners LLC now owns 5,008 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $936,000 after acquiring an additional 1,193 shares in the last quarter. Natixis Advisors LLC grew its stake in EastGroup Properties by 13.6% during the 3rd quarter. Natixis Advisors LLC now owns 52,679 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $9,842,000 after buying an additional 6,307 shares during the last quarter. Vaughan Nelson Investment Management L.P. grew its stake in shares of EastGroup Properties by 22.2% during the third quarter. Vaughan Nelson Investment Management L.P. now owns 343,140 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $64,105,000 after acquiring an additional 62,381 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Thrivent Financial for Lutherans lifted its holdings in shares of EastGroup Properties by 1.7% during the third quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans now owns 153,736 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $28,721,000 after purchasing an additional 2,633 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.14% of the company's stock.

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.

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