Focus Partners Wealth Increases Stock Holdings in EastGroup Properties, Inc. (NYSE:EGP)

Focus Partners Wealth increased its position in EastGroup Properties, Inc. (NYSE:EGP - Free Report) by 36.0% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 5,973 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock after purchasing an additional 1,580 shares during the period. Focus Partners Wealth's holdings in EastGroup Properties were worth $959,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its holdings in EastGroup Properties by 1.0% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 6,990,950 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $1,121,978,000 after acquiring an additional 72,199 shares in the last quarter. Cohen & Steers Inc. boosted its holdings in EastGroup Properties by 141.6% in the fourth quarter. Cohen & Steers Inc. now owns 2,855,920 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $458,347,000 after acquiring an additional 1,673,663 shares in the last quarter. FMR LLC boosted its holdings in EastGroup Properties by 1.4% in the fourth quarter. FMR LLC now owns 1,579,515 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $253,496,000 after acquiring an additional 21,432 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. Finally, Boston Partners boosted its holdings in EastGroup Properties by 34.1% in the fourth quarter. Boston Partners now owns 1,056,232 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $169,533,000 after acquiring an additional 268,359 shares in the last quarter. 92.14% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have commented on EGP. Piper Sandler dropped their target price on EastGroup Properties from $175.00 to $172.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, April 15th. Evercore ISI increased their target price on EastGroup Properties from $179.00 to $180.00 and gave the company an "in-line" rating in a report on Thursday, April 24th. Raymond James reissued a "strong-buy" rating on shares of EastGroup Properties in a report on Wednesday, May 7th. Barclays reduced their price target on EastGroup Properties from $193.00 to $182.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, April 30th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price target on EastGroup Properties from $199.00 to $187.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research report on Monday, May 19th. Eight 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, EastGroup Properties presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $186.60.

EastGroup Properties Price Performance

EastGroup Properties stock traded down $1.30 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $164.69. 301,646 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 373,562. The stock has a market cap of $8.65 billion, a P/E ratio of 35.42, a PEG ratio of 3.35 and a beta of 1.05. EastGroup Properties, Inc. has a 12 month low of $137.67 and a 12 month high of $192.61. The stock's fifty day moving average is $165.40 and its 200-day moving average is $169.29. 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 issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 23rd. The real estate investment trust reported $2.12 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $2.11 by $0.01. EastGroup Properties had a return on equity of 7.89% and a net margin of 35.57%. The firm had revenue of $174.45 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $169.67 million. During the same period last year, the company earned $1.98 EPS. EastGroup Properties's quarterly revenue was up 13.1% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that EastGroup Properties, Inc. will post 8.94 EPS for the current year.

EastGroup Properties Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, July 15th. Shareholders of record on Monday, June 30th will be issued a dividend of $1.40 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, June 30th. This represents a $5.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.40%. EastGroup Properties's payout ratio is currently 122.54%.

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.