Vanguard Group Inc. Purchases 207,329 Shares of EastGroup Properties, Inc. (NYSE:EGP)

Vanguard Group Inc. grew its position in shares of EastGroup Properties, Inc. (NYSE:EGP - Free Report) by 3.0% during the first quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 7,198,279 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock after purchasing an additional 207,329 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. owned approximately 13.71% of EastGroup Properties worth $1,267,977,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in EGP. Westwood Holdings Group Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of EastGroup Properties during the first quarter worth approximately $3,603,000. New Age Alpha Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in shares of EastGroup Properties by 15.0% during the first quarter. New Age Alpha Advisors LLC now owns 7,207 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $1,270,000 after acquiring an additional 940 shares during the period. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. lifted its holdings in EastGroup Properties by 8.7% in the first quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 3,161 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $557,000 after purchasing an additional 254 shares during the period. Baker Avenue Asset Management LP acquired a new stake in EastGroup Properties in the first quarter worth about $236,000. Finally, Harvest Fund Management Co. Ltd acquired a new stake in EastGroup Properties in the first quarter worth about $226,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.14% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts have commented on EGP shares. Robert W. Baird dropped their price target on shares of EastGroup Properties from $194.00 to $190.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, May 7th. Barclays dropped their price target on shares of EastGroup Properties from $193.00 to $182.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, April 30th. Royal Bank Of Canada dropped their price target on shares of EastGroup Properties from $183.00 to $182.00 and set a "sector perform" rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, July 29th. Truist Financial dropped their price target on shares of EastGroup Properties from $180.00 to $177.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, May 5th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company set a $215.00 price objective on EastGroup Properties and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Sunday, July 13th. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, EastGroup Properties currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $189.31.

EastGroup Properties Stock Up 0.2%

Shares of NYSE EGP traded up $0.25 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $162.15. The stock had a trading volume of 33,576 shares, compared to its average volume of 431,721. The company has a market capitalization of $8.65 billion, a P/E ratio of 35.00, a P/E/G ratio of 3.34 and a beta of 0.98. The firm's 50-day moving average price is $167.16 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $169.47. EastGroup Properties, Inc. has a 52 week low of $137.67 and a 52 week high of $192.21. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.43, a quick ratio of 0.16 and a current ratio of 0.16.

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

EastGroup Properties Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, July 15th. Shareholders of record on Monday, June 30th were given 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 3.5%. EastGroup Properties's dividend payout ratio is presently 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.