Louisiana State Employees Retirement System Purchases Shares of 15,400 EastGroup Properties, Inc. $EGP

Key Points

• Louisiana State Employees Retirement System bought 15,400 shares of EastGroup Properties in Q1, a position valued at about $2.85 million.
• Institutional ownership remains very high, with hedge funds and other institutions holding 92.14% of the company’s stock. Several large investors also increased or initiated positions in recent quarters.
• Analysts remain generally positive on EGP, with 11 Buy ratings and an average target price of about $210.12; the stock recently traded near $206.99, while the company also announced a quarterly dividend of $1.55 per share.

Louisiana State Employees Retirement System purchased a new position in shares of EastGroup Properties, Inc. (NYSE:EGP - Free Report) during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor purchased 15,400 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock, valued at approximately $2,850,000.

Several other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in EGP. Norges Bank acquired a new position in EastGroup Properties in the fourth quarter valued at $281,054,000. Principal Financial Group Inc. increased its stake in shares of EastGroup Properties by 16.0% during the 4th quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 2,303,804 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $410,404,000 after acquiring an additional 318,261 shares during the last quarter. Alyeska Investment Group L.P. increased its stake in shares of EastGroup Properties by 98.4% during the 4th quarter. Alyeska Investment Group L.P. now owns 566,295 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $100,880,000 after acquiring an additional 280,819 shares during the last quarter. Cohen & Steers Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of EastGroup Properties by 7.0% during the 4th quarter. Cohen & Steers Inc. now owns 3,063,576 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $545,746,000 after acquiring an additional 200,617 shares during the period. Finally, Corient Private Wealth LLC boosted its position in shares of EastGroup Properties by 623.9% in the fourth quarter. Corient Private Wealth LLC now owns 174,997 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $31,174,000 after acquiring an additional 150,822 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.14% of the company's stock.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director David Michael Fields sold 504 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Thursday, June 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $195.77, for a total transaction of $98,668.08. Following the transaction, the director owned 3,531 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $691,263.87. The trade was a 12.49% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Insiders own 1.00% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts have weighed in on EGP shares. Morgan Stanley lifted their price target on shares of EastGroup Properties from $215.00 to $231.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 27th. Truist Financial boosted their price objective on shares of EastGroup Properties from $205.00 to $215.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Tuesday, May 5th. Robert W. Baird upped their target price on shares of EastGroup Properties from $208.00 to $210.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 28th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on shares of EastGroup Properties from $213.00 to $221.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Monday, June 1st. Finally, Weiss Ratings upgraded EastGroup Properties from a "buy (b-)" rating to a "buy (b)" rating in a research report on Friday, April 24th. Eleven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $210.12.

EastGroup Properties Stock Down 0.1%

EGP stock opened at $206.99 on Monday. EastGroup Properties, Inc. has a 1 year low of $159.37 and a 1 year high of $207.72. The company has a current ratio of 0.19, a quick ratio of 0.19 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.45. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $202.02 and a 200 day simple moving average of $191.84. The firm has a market cap of $11.13 billion, a PE ratio of 37.63, a PEG ratio of 3.11 and a beta of 1.04.

EastGroup Properties (NYSE:EGP - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 22nd. The real estate investment trust reported $1.77 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $1.27 by $0.50. EastGroup Properties had a net margin of 39.69% and a return on equity of 8.37%. The business had revenue of $190.26 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $193.84 million. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $2.15 earnings per share. EastGroup Properties's revenue for the quarter was up 9.1% on a year-over-year basis. EastGroup Properties has set its FY 2026 guidance at 9.460-9.660 EPS. Sell-side analysts anticipate that EastGroup Properties, Inc. will post 9.58 EPS for the current fiscal year.

EastGroup Properties Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, July 15th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, June 30th will be issued a $1.55 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, June 30th. This represents a $6.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.0%. EastGroup Properties's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 112.73%.

EastGroup Properties Profile

EastGroup Properties, Inc NYSE: EGP is a real estate investment trust specializing in the ownership, development and management of industrial properties. Focused primarily on distribution-oriented facilities, the company's portfolio consists of modern warehouse and light manufacturing buildings located in high-growth Sunbelt markets. EastGroup concentrates on delivering strategic logistics solutions to customers requiring proximity to transportation hubs and major population centers across the southern United States.

Since its founding in 1969, EastGroup has pursued a disciplined growth strategy that combines property development, targeted acquisitions and hands-on asset management.

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