T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. Buys 273,217 Shares of EastGroup Properties, Inc. (NYSE:EGP)

T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of EastGroup Properties, Inc. (NYSE:EGP - Free Report) by 24.0% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 1,413,716 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock after acquiring an additional 273,217 shares during the quarter. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. owned 2.86% of EastGroup Properties worth $226,888,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Cohen & Steers Inc. lifted its holdings 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 valued at $458,347,000 after buying an additional 1,673,663 shares during the last quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new position in EastGroup Properties in the 4th quarter worth approximately $116,756,000. Norges Bank bought a new position in EastGroup Properties in the 4th quarter worth approximately $100,579,000. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. increased its position in EastGroup Properties by 210.6% in the 4th quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. now owns 707,732 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $113,584,000 after buying an additional 479,873 shares during the period. Finally, Boston Partners grew its holdings in shares of EastGroup Properties by 34.1% during the 4th quarter. Boston Partners now owns 1,056,232 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $169,533,000 after purchasing an additional 268,359 shares in the last quarter. 92.14% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts recently issued reports on the stock. Robert W. Baird lifted their price target on shares of EastGroup Properties from $192.00 to $194.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Wednesday, February 19th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft started coverage on shares of EastGroup Properties in a research report on Tuesday, January 14th. They issued a "buy" rating and a $180.00 price objective for the company. Evercore ISI raised their price objective on shares of EastGroup Properties from $179.00 to $180.00 and gave the company an "in-line" rating in a research report on Thursday, April 24th. Raymond James set a $190.00 price objective on shares of EastGroup Properties and gave the company a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Monday, April 14th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group upgraded shares of EastGroup Properties from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and raised their price objective for the company from $174.00 to $194.00 in a research report on Thursday, January 2nd. Nine analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, EastGroup Properties has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $187.81.

EastGroup Properties Stock Down 0.5 %

Shares of EGP stock traded down $0.87 during trading on Tuesday, reaching $163.14. The company's stock had a trading volume of 96,147 shares, compared to its average volume of 366,875. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $170.72 and a 200-day moving average price of $170.49. The company has a quick ratio of 0.12, a current ratio of 0.12 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.46. The company has a market cap of $8.57 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 35.05, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.35 and a beta of 0.94. EastGroup Properties, Inc. has a one year low of $137.67 and a one year high of $192.61.

EastGroup Properties (NYSE:EGP - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results 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. The business had revenue of $174.45 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $169.67 million. EastGroup Properties had a net margin of 35.57% and a return on equity of 7.89%. EastGroup Properties's revenue was up 13.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the business posted $1.98 EPS. Analysts anticipate that EastGroup Properties, Inc. will post 8.94 earnings per share for the current year.

EastGroup Properties Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, April 15th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 31st were given a $1.40 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, March 31st. This represents a $5.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.43%. EastGroup Properties's payout ratio is 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.