The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company Boosts Stake in EastGroup Properties, Inc. (NYSE:EGP)

The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company grew its stake in shares of EastGroup Properties, Inc. (NYSE:EGP - Free Report) by 7.5% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 294,289 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock after purchasing an additional 20,450 shares during the quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company owned about 0.59% of EastGroup Properties worth $47,230,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in EGP. Crowley Wealth Management Inc. bought a new stake in shares of EastGroup Properties in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $29,000. Canton Hathaway LLC acquired a new position in EastGroup Properties in the fourth quarter valued at about $30,000. Thurston Springer Miller Herd & Titak Inc. lifted its position in EastGroup Properties by 503.3% during the fourth quarter. Thurston Springer Miller Herd & Titak Inc. now owns 362 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $58,000 after purchasing an additional 302 shares during the period. Principal Securities Inc. grew its stake in EastGroup Properties by 18.5% during the fourth quarter. Principal Securities Inc. now owns 538 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $86,000 after buying an additional 84 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Versant Capital Management Inc increased its holdings in EastGroup Properties by 18.7% in the 4th quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 602 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $97,000 after buying an additional 95 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 92.14% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages recently weighed in on EGP. Truist Financial dropped their price objective on EastGroup Properties from $180.00 to $177.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Monday. Barclays lowered 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 research report on Wednesday, April 30th. Robert W. Baird boosted their target price on shares of EastGroup Properties from $192.00 to $194.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 19th. StockNews.com upgraded shares of EastGroup Properties from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Sunday, April 27th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft initiated coverage on EastGroup Properties in a research note on Tuesday, January 14th. They issued a "buy" rating and a $180.00 price objective on the stock. Eight equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, EastGroup Properties has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $187.00.

EastGroup Properties Stock Performance

NYSE EGP traded down $1.50 on Tuesday, hitting $165.33. 65,097 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 368,236. EastGroup Properties, Inc. has a 12 month low of $137.67 and a 12 month high of $192.61. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.46, a quick ratio of 0.12 and a current ratio of 0.12. The business's fifty day moving average is $169.20 and its two-hundred day moving average is $169.91. The firm has a market capitalization of $8.68 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 35.55, a PEG ratio of 3.35 and a beta of 1.05.

EastGroup Properties (NYSE:EGP - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 23rd. The real estate investment trust reported $2.12 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate 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 for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $169.67 million. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $1.98 earnings per share. The company's revenue was up 13.1% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that EastGroup Properties, Inc. will post 8.94 EPS for the current fiscal year.

EastGroup Properties Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, April 15th. Investors of record on Monday, March 31st were issued a dividend of $1.40 per share. This represents a $5.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.39%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, March 31st. EastGroup Properties's dividend payout ratio is currently 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.