EastGroup Properties, Inc. (NYSE:EGP) Shares Purchased by Two Sigma Advisers LP

Two Sigma Advisers LP increased its position in EastGroup Properties, Inc. (NYSE:EGP - Free Report) by 36.7% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 113,900 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock after purchasing an additional 30,600 shares during the quarter. Two Sigma Advisers LP owned approximately 0.23% of EastGroup Properties worth $21,279,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. V Square Quantitative Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of 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 purchasing an additional 61 shares during the last quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC raised its stake in shares of EastGroup Properties by 7.1% during the 3rd quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 1,350 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $252,000 after buying an additional 90 shares during the last quarter. Azzad Asset Management Inc. ADV raised its stake in shares of EastGroup Properties by 4.9% during the 3rd quarter. Azzad Asset Management Inc. ADV now owns 2,085 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $389,000 after buying an additional 98 shares during the last quarter. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC grew its position in shares of EastGroup Properties by 0.3% during the 2nd quarter. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC now owns 31,093 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $5,328,000 after acquiring an additional 103 shares during the period. Finally, UMB Bank n.a. grew its position in shares of EastGroup Properties by 7.7% during the 3rd 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 period. Institutional investors own 92.14% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms recently issued reports on EGP. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated a "sector perform" rating and issued a $186.00 price objective on shares of EastGroup Properties in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. Morgan Stanley lifted their price target on shares of EastGroup Properties from $158.00 to $186.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Thursday, August 22nd. Wells Fargo & Company cut their target price on EastGroup Properties from $214.00 to $199.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, November 4th. StockNews.com downgraded shares of EastGroup Properties from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a research note on Monday, October 28th. Finally, Wedbush reiterated an "outperform" rating and set a $209.00 target price on shares of EastGroup Properties in a research note on Friday, October 25th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $191.21.

EastGroup Properties Stock Performance

NYSE EGP traded down $0.98 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $168.00. 193,209 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 291,072. The company has a market cap of $8.32 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 34.71, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.21 and a beta of 0.99. EastGroup Properties, Inc. 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 $175.55 and a 200 day moving average of $177.41. 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 quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 23rd. The real estate investment trust reported $1.13 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate 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 company's revenue for the quarter was up 11.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $1.95 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that EastGroup Properties, Inc. will post 8.36 earnings per share for the current year.

EastGroup Properties Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, January 15th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, December 31st will be issued 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 yield of 3.33%. EastGroup Properties's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 115.70%.

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.