EastGroup Properties (NYSE:EGP) Raised to Outperform at Evercore ISI

Evercore ISI upgraded shares of EastGroup Properties (NYSE:EGP) from an in-line rating to an outperform rating in a report published on Monday morning, MarketBeat reports. The brokerage currently has $204.00 target price on the real estate investment trust’s stock, up from their prior target price of $192.00.

Other research analysts have also recently issued research reports about the stock. Wells Fargo & Company upgraded shares of EastGroup Properties from an equal weight rating to an overweight rating and lifted their price target for the stock from $179.00 to $214.00 in a research note on Wednesday, August 28th. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their target price on EastGroup Properties from $172.00 to $186.00 and gave the company a sector perform rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 30th. Barclays upped their price target on EastGroup Properties from $175.00 to $198.00 and gave the stock an equal weight rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 30th. BNP Paribas initiated coverage on EastGroup Properties in a research report on Tuesday, June 4th. They set a neutral rating and a $167.00 price objective on the stock. Finally, Wedbush increased their target price on shares of EastGroup Properties from $208.00 to $209.00 and gave the stock an outperform rating in a report on Monday, August 5th. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, EastGroup Properties presently has an average rating of Moderate Buy and an average target price of $192.00.

EastGroup Properties Stock Up 1.2 %

EastGroup Properties stock opened at $191.82 on Monday. EastGroup Properties has a one year low of $154.75 and a one year high of $192.61. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $185.23 and a 200 day moving average of $174.63. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.60, a quick ratio of 0.21 and a current ratio of 0.21. The stock has a market cap of $9.23 billion, a PE ratio of 41.51, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.74 and a beta of 0.99.

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

EastGroup Properties Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, October 15th. Investors of record on Monday, September 30th will be paid a dividend of $1.40 per share. This represents a $5.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.92%. This is a boost from EastGroup Properties’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.27. The ex-dividend date is Monday, September 30th. EastGroup Properties’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 121.48%.

Institutional Trading of EastGroup Properties

Hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Gradient Investments LLC purchased a new position in shares of EastGroup Properties during the second quarter valued at about $32,000. Quest Partners LLC boosted its stake in EastGroup Properties by 10,400.0% during the second quarter. Quest Partners LLC now owns 210 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $36,000 after buying an additional 208 shares during the last quarter. Mather Group LLC. purchased a new position in EastGroup Properties during the 1st quarter valued at approximately $42,000. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC increased its stake in EastGroup Properties by 1,938.5% in the 4th quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 265 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $49,000 after acquiring an additional 252 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. purchased a new stake in shares of EastGroup Properties during the 4th quarter worth approximately $55,000. Hedge funds and other 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.