EastGroup Properties (NYSE:EGP) Cut to Sell at StockNews.com

EastGroup Properties (NYSE:EGP) was downgraded by equities researchers at StockNews.com from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report issued on Monday.

Several other brokerages have also weighed in on EGP. Robert W. Baird increased their target price on shares of EastGroup Properties from $192.00 to $194.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 19th. Evercore ISI reissued an “in-line” rating and issued a $185.00 target price (up previously from $181.00) on shares of EastGroup Properties in a research report on Monday, March 17th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft initiated coverage on EastGroup Properties in a research note on Tuesday, January 14th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $180.00 price objective for the company. Morgan Stanley lowered their target price on EastGroup Properties from $186.00 to $180.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Monday, December 30th. Finally, KeyCorp reiterated a “sector weight” rating on shares of EastGroup Properties in a research note on Tuesday, December 17th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating, eight have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, EastGroup Properties currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $190.47.

EastGroup Properties Trading Down 0.2 %

EastGroup Properties stock traded down $0.43 during midday trading on Monday, hitting $176.01. 603,610 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 345,371. The company has a current ratio of 0.12, a quick ratio of 0.12 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.46. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $177.21 and its 200 day simple moving average is $174.39. EastGroup Properties has a fifty-two week low of $155.10 and a fifty-two week high of $192.61. The stock has a market capitalization of $9.16 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 37.85, a PEG ratio of 3.35 and a beta of 0.99.

EastGroup Properties (NYSE:EGP) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 6th. The real estate investment trust reported $2.15 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.16 by $0.99. EastGroup Properties had a net margin of 35.57% and a return on equity of 7.89%. On average, equities analysts anticipate that EastGroup Properties will post 8.94 EPS for the current year.

Institutional Trading of EastGroup Properties

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Cohen & Steers Inc. grew its position in shares of EastGroup Properties by 141.6% in the 4th quarter. Cohen & Steers Inc. now owns 2,855,920 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $458,347,000 after buying an additional 1,673,663 shares during the last quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new stake in EastGroup Properties in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $116,756,000. FMR LLC boosted its holdings in shares of EastGroup Properties by 67.9% in the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 1,558,083 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $291,081,000 after acquiring an additional 629,827 shares during the period. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of EastGroup Properties in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $100,579,000. Finally, Daiwa Securities Group Inc. increased its holdings in shares of EastGroup Properties by 210.6% in the 4th quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. now owns 707,732 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $113,584,000 after acquiring an additional 479,873 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.