EastGroup Properties, Inc. (NYSE:EGP) Position Cut by Vision Capital Corp

Key Points

• Vision Capital Corp reduced its holdings in EastGroup Properties by 20.4%, selling 20,000 shares during the 1st quarter, and now owns 78,000 shares valued at approximately $13.74 million.
• Several institutional investors made significant changes, including Nuveen LLC, which purchased shares worth $190.46 million, and Principal Financial Group that boosted its stake by 234.7%.
• Analysts have recently set new price targets for EastGroup Properties, with Wells Fargo having a target of $215.00 and seven analysts giving the stock a Moderate Buy consensus rating.

Vision Capital Corp cut its position in shares of EastGroup Properties, Inc. (NYSE:EGP - Free Report) by 20.4% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 78,000 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock after selling 20,000 shares during the quarter. EastGroup Properties comprises 3.1% of Vision Capital Corp's investment portfolio, making the stock its 7th biggest holding. Vision Capital Corp owned approximately 0.15% of EastGroup Properties worth $13,740,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its holdings in EastGroup Properties by 3.0% in the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 7,198,279 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $1,267,977,000 after acquiring an additional 207,329 shares in the last quarter. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. boosted its holdings in EastGroup Properties by 24.0% in the fourth quarter. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,413,716 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $226,888,000 after acquiring an additional 273,217 shares in the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. boosted its holdings in EastGroup Properties by 234.7% in the first quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 1,222,064 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $215,267,000 after acquiring an additional 856,971 shares in the last quarter. Nuveen LLC bought a new stake in EastGroup Properties in the first quarter worth $190,456,000. Finally, Northern Trust Corp boosted its holdings in EastGroup Properties by 91.3% in the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 811,196 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $130,189,000 after acquiring an additional 387,134 shares in the last quarter. 92.14% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Barclays decreased their price target on 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. Truist Financial decreased their price target on EastGroup Properties from $180.00 to $177.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research note on Monday, May 5th. 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. Raymond James Financial restated a "strong-buy" rating on shares of EastGroup Properties in a research note on Wednesday, May 7th. Finally, Wall Street Zen upgraded EastGroup Properties from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Sunday, April 27th. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $189.31.

EastGroup Properties Stock Performance

NYSE:EGP traded up $0.66 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $162.56. 467,063 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 412,550. The stock's fifty day moving average price is $166.98 and its 200-day moving average price is $169.41. EastGroup Properties, Inc. has a one year low of $137.67 and a one year high of $192.21. The company has a quick ratio of 0.16, a current ratio of 0.16 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.43. The firm has a market cap of $8.67 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 35.11, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.32 and a beta of 0.98.

EastGroup Properties (NYSE:EGP - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 23rd. The real estate investment trust reported $2.21 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $2.20 by $0.01. The firm had revenue of $177.29 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $175.80 million. EastGroup Properties had a return on equity of 7.29% and a net margin of 34.85%. The business's quarterly revenue was up 11.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $2.05 earnings per share. Research analysts anticipate that EastGroup Properties, Inc. will post 8.94 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

EastGroup Properties Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, July 15th. Investors of record on Monday, June 30th were paid a dividend of $1.40 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, June 30th. This represents a $5.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.4%. EastGroup Properties's dividend payout ratio is presently 120.95%.

EastGroup Properties 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.