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

EastGroup Properties, Inc. (NYSE:EGP - Get Free Report) declared a quarterly dividend on Thursday, May 22nd, RTT News reports. Shareholders 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 3.40%. 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 raised its dividend every year for the last 4 years. EastGroup Properties has a dividend payout ratio of 105.3% indicating that the company cannot currently cover its dividend with earnings alone and is relying on its balance sheet to cover its dividend payments. Equities research 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 Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE EGP traded down $1.30 during mid-day trading on Monday, reaching $164.69. 301,646 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 373,562. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $165.40 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $169.26. 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 has a market capitalization of $8.65 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 35.42, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.35 and a beta of 1.05. EastGroup Properties has a 52 week low of $137.67 and a 52 week high of $192.61.

EastGroup Properties (NYSE:EGP - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data 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. EastGroup Properties had a net margin of 35.57% and a return on equity of 7.89%. The business had revenue of $174.45 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $169.67 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $1.98 earnings per share. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 13.1% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts predict that EastGroup Properties will post 8.94 EPS for the current year.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages have issued reports on EGP. Robert W. Baird lowered their target price on EastGroup Properties from $194.00 to $190.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, May 7th. Evercore ISI upped their price objective on shares of EastGroup Properties from $179.00 to $180.00 and gave the company an "in-line" rating in a report on Thursday, April 24th. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their target price on shares of EastGroup Properties from $199.00 to $187.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research note on Monday, May 19th. Raymond James reissued a "strong-buy" rating on shares of EastGroup Properties in a research report on Wednesday, May 7th. Finally, Barclays reduced their price objective on shares of EastGroup Properties from $193.00 to $182.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, April 30th. Eight equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, EastGroup Properties currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $186.60.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On EastGroup Properties

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