EastGroup Properties (NYSE:EGP) Sets New 1-Year Low – Here’s Why

EastGroup Properties, Inc. (NYSE:EGP) reached a new 52-week low on Friday . The stock traded as low as $155.10 and last traded at $156.04, with a volume of 23168 shares trading hands. The stock had previously closed at $158.71.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts recently weighed in on the company. Wedbush reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $209.00 price objective on shares of EastGroup Properties in a research report on Friday, October 25th. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price objective on shares of EastGroup Properties from $214.00 to $199.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, November 4th. StockNews.com cut shares of EastGroup Properties from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Monday, October 28th. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated a “sector perform” rating and issued a $186.00 target price on shares of EastGroup Properties in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. Finally, Evercore ISI lifted their target price on EastGroup Properties from $204.00 to $205.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, October 7th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating, eight have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, EastGroup Properties presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $191.56.

EastGroup Properties Stock Performance

The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $167.98 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $177.13. The company has a current ratio of 0.08, a quick ratio of 0.08 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.57. The firm has a market capitalization of $7.73 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 32.25, a PEG ratio of 2.23 and a beta of 1.00.

EastGroup Properties (NYSE:EGP) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, October 23rd. The real estate investment trust reported $1.13 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.10 by ($0.97). The company had revenue of $162.88 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $161.52 million. EastGroup Properties had a net margin of 37.19% and a return on equity of 8.56%. EastGroup Properties’s quarterly revenue was up 11.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $1.95 EPS. On average, analysts forecast that EastGroup Properties, Inc. will post 8.35 EPS for the current year.

EastGroup Properties Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, January 15th. Investors of record on Tuesday, December 31st will be given a dividend of $1.40 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, December 31st. This represents a $5.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.59%. EastGroup Properties’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 115.70%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On EastGroup Properties

Hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. FMR LLC increased its position in EastGroup Properties by 67.9% during the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 1,558,083 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $291,081,000 after purchasing an additional 629,827 shares in the last quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC increased its position in shares of EastGroup Properties by 355.1% in the third quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 391,594 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $73,158,000 after acquiring an additional 305,555 shares in the last quarter. Millennium Management LLC raised its stake in shares of EastGroup Properties by 202.1% in the 2nd quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 188,336 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $32,036,000 after acquiring an additional 125,991 shares during the period. Vision Capital Corp acquired a new position in shares of EastGroup Properties during the 3rd quarter valued at $18,308,000. Finally, Thrivent Financial for Lutherans increased its holdings in EastGroup Properties by 73.7% in the 2nd quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans now owns 151,103 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $25,702,000 after purchasing an additional 64,099 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.14% of the company’s stock.

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.