Handelsbanken Fonder AB Boosts Holdings in EastGroup Properties, Inc. (NYSE:EGP)

Handelsbanken Fonder AB lifted its stake in shares of EastGroup Properties, Inc. (NYSE:EGP - Free Report) by 9.3% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 190,158 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock after buying an additional 16,200 shares during the period. Handelsbanken Fonder AB owned approximately 0.37% of EastGroup Properties worth $33,496,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its position in EastGroup Properties by 36.3% during the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 556 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $98,000 after purchasing an additional 148 shares during the period. Yousif Capital Management LLC lifted its position in EastGroup Properties by 2.6% during the first quarter. Yousif Capital Management LLC now owns 19,440 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $3,424,000 after purchasing an additional 489 shares during the period. Tounjian Advisory Partners LLC acquired a new position in EastGroup Properties during the first quarter valued at $319,000. UMB Bank n.a. lifted its position in EastGroup Properties by 28.7% during the first quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 1,951 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $344,000 after purchasing an additional 435 shares during the period. Finally, Hennion & Walsh Asset Management Inc. lifted its position in EastGroup Properties by 38.9% during the first quarter. Hennion & Walsh Asset Management Inc. now owns 2,362 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $416,000 after purchasing an additional 662 shares during the period. 92.14% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

EGP has been the subject of a number of research reports. Raymond James restated a "strong-buy" rating on shares of EastGroup Properties in a research report on Wednesday, May 7th. Royal Bank of Canada cut their price objective on shares of EastGroup Properties from $189.00 to $183.00 and set a "sector perform" rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, April 29th. Wall Street Zen raised shares of EastGroup Properties from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Sunday, April 27th. Robert W. Baird cut their price objective on shares of EastGroup Properties from $194.00 to $190.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, May 7th. Finally, Barclays cut 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. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, EastGroup Properties currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $188.00.

EastGroup Properties Price Performance

Shares of NYSE EGP traded down $1.18 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $170.87. The stock had a trading volume of 260,417 shares, compared to its average volume of 375,394. The company has a market capitalization of $8.97 billion, a PE ratio of 36.75, a P/E/G ratio of 3.35 and a beta of 1.02. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $165.16 and a 200-day simple moving average of $168.98. EastGroup Properties, Inc. has a 1 year low of $137.67 and a 1 year high of $192.61. The company has a quick ratio of 0.12, a current ratio of 0.12 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.46.

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 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating 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 company had revenue of $174.45 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $169.67 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $1.98 EPS. EastGroup Properties's revenue was up 13.1% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts expect that EastGroup Properties, Inc. will post 8.94 EPS for the current fiscal year.

EastGroup Properties Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, July 15th. Investors of record on Monday, June 30th will be paid a dividend of $1.40 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, June 30th. This represents a $5.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.28%. EastGroup Properties's dividend payout ratio is presently 122.54%.

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.