EastGroup Properties, Inc. (NYSE:EGP) Announces Quarterly Dividend of $1.40

EastGroup Properties, Inc. (NYSE:EGP - Get Free Report) announced a quarterly dividend on Thursday, May 22nd, RTT News reports. Investors of record on Monday, June 30th will be paid a dividend of 1.40 per share by the real estate investment trust on Tuesday, July 15th. This represents a $5.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.32%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, June 30th.

EastGroup Properties has raised its dividend payment by an average of 15.3% per year over the last three years and has increased its dividend annually for the last 4 consecutive years. EastGroup Properties has a payout ratio of 106.3% meaning the company cannot currently cover its dividend with earnings alone and is relying on its balance sheet to cover its dividend payments. Equities analysts expect EastGroup Properties to earn $9.73 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $5.60 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 57.6%.

EastGroup Properties Trading Up 0.5%

Shares of EastGroup Properties stock traded up $0.78 during trading on Wednesday, hitting $168.70. The stock had a trading volume of 91,760 shares, compared to its average volume of 371,979. EastGroup Properties has a 12 month low of $137.67 and a 12 month high of $192.61. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.46, a current ratio of 0.12 and a quick ratio of 0.12. The firm's fifty day simple moving average is $164.94 and its 200-day simple moving average is $169.17. The stock has a market cap of $8.86 billion, a PE ratio of 36.28, a PEG ratio of 3.35 and a beta of 1.05.

EastGroup Properties (NYSE:EGP - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 23rd. The real estate investment trust reported $2.12 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.11 by $0.01. The company had revenue of $174.45 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $169.67 million. EastGroup Properties had a net margin of 35.57% and a return on equity of 7.89%. The firm's revenue was up 13.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $1.98 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that EastGroup Properties will post 8.94 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On EastGroup Properties

Several large investors have recently made changes to their positions in EGP. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. increased its holdings in EastGroup Properties by 28.0% in the 1st quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 190,144 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $33,494,000 after purchasing an additional 41,538 shares during the last quarter. Jane Street Group LLC boosted its position in shares of EastGroup Properties by 309.8% during the first quarter. Jane Street Group LLC now owns 15,878 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $2,797,000 after buying an additional 12,003 shares during the period. Jones Financial Companies Lllp grew its stake in shares of EastGroup Properties by 18,900.0% in the first quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp now owns 950 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $167,000 after buying an additional 945 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Focus Partners Wealth raised its holdings in shares of EastGroup Properties by 2.2% in the 1st quarter. Focus Partners Wealth now owns 6,103 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $1,075,000 after buying an additional 130 shares during the period. 92.14% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

EGP has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Robert W. Baird reduced their price target on EastGroup Properties from $194.00 to $190.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, May 7th. Wall Street Zen raised EastGroup Properties from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Sunday, April 27th. Raymond James reiterated a "strong-buy" rating on shares of EastGroup Properties in a research note on Wednesday, May 7th. Evercore ISI boosted their price target on EastGroup Properties from $179.00 to $180.00 and gave the stock an "in-line" rating in a research note on Thursday, April 24th. Finally, Piper Sandler cut their price objective on shares of EastGroup Properties from $175.00 to $172.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, April 15th. Eight equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $186.60.

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.