Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. Buys 39,898 Shares of EastGroup Properties, Inc. (NYSE:EGP)

Key Points

• Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its stake in EastGroup Properties by 6.1%, owning 690,510 shares valued at approximately $121.63 million.
• EastGroup Properties has received mixed analyst ratings, with a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and a target price averaging $189.31.
• The company declared a quarterly dividend of $1.40 per share, which offers a yield of 3.5%, although the dividend payout ratio stands at 120.95%.

Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its stake in EastGroup Properties, Inc. (NYSE:EGP - Free Report) by 6.1% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 690,510 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock after acquiring an additional 39,898 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. owned 1.31% of EastGroup Properties worth $121,633,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Cohen & Steers Inc. grew its position in shares of EastGroup Properties by 141.6% during the 4th quarter. Cohen & Steers Inc. now owns 2,855,920 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $458,347,000 after buying an additional 1,673,663 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc. grew its position in shares of EastGroup Properties by 234.7% during the 1st quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 1,222,064 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $215,267,000 after buying an additional 856,971 shares during the period. Northern Trust Corp grew its position in shares of EastGroup Properties by 91.3% during the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 811,196 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $130,189,000 after buying an additional 387,134 shares during the period. Universal Beteiligungs und Servicegesellschaft mbH acquired a new stake in shares of EastGroup Properties during the 1st quarter worth approximately $52,065,000. Finally, T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. grew its position in shares of EastGroup Properties by 24.0% during the 4th 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 buying an additional 273,217 shares during the period. 92.14% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages have recently commented on EGP. Robert W. Baird lowered their price target on shares of EastGroup Properties from $194.00 to $190.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, May 7th. Evercore ISI boosted 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. Royal Bank Of Canada decreased their price objective on shares of EastGroup Properties from $183.00 to $182.00 and set a "sector perform" rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, July 29th. Barclays decreased 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 report on Wednesday, April 30th. Finally, Truist Financial decreased their price objective on shares of EastGroup Properties from $180.00 to $177.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a report on Monday, May 5th. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, EastGroup Properties has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $189.31.

EastGroup Properties Stock Performance

Shares of EGP stock traded up $0.66 on Friday, hitting $162.56. The company's stock had a trading volume of 467,063 shares, compared to its average volume of 412,550. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.43, a quick ratio of 0.16 and a current ratio of 0.16. The stock's 50 day moving average is $166.98 and its 200-day moving average is $169.41. EastGroup Properties, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $137.67 and a fifty-two week high of $192.21. The company has a market capitalization of $8.67 billion, a PE ratio of 35.11, a PEG ratio of 3.30 and a beta of 0.98.

EastGroup Properties (NYSE:EGP - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, July 23rd. The real estate investment trust reported $2.21 EPS 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 analysts' expectations of $175.80 million. EastGroup Properties had a net margin of 34.85% and a return on equity of 7.29%. The business's revenue for the quarter was up 11.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $2.05 earnings per share. Equities research analysts expect that EastGroup Properties, Inc. will post 8.94 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

EastGroup Properties Dividend Announcement

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

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.