EastGroup Properties, Inc. (NYSE:EGP) Shares Acquired by Daiwa Securities Group Inc.

Daiwa Securities Group Inc. lifted its holdings in EastGroup Properties, Inc. (NYSE:EGP) by 210.6% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 707,732 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after acquiring an additional 479,873 shares during the quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. owned 1.43% of EastGroup Properties worth $113,584,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. State Street Corp grew its position in EastGroup Properties by 2.1% during the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 2,427,405 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $456,872,000 after purchasing an additional 49,268 shares during the period. FMR LLC grew its holdings in EastGroup Properties by 67.9% during the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 1,558,083 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $291,081,000 after acquiring an additional 629,827 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in EastGroup Properties by 1.2% during the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 899,219 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $168,032,000 after acquiring an additional 10,435 shares during the period. Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new position in EastGroup Properties during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $116,756,000. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its holdings in EastGroup Properties by 1.7% in the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 650,612 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $104,417,000 after acquiring an additional 10,812 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.14% of the company’s stock.

EastGroup Properties Trading Down 0.6 %

Shares of EastGroup Properties stock opened at $184.51 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.46, a current ratio of 0.12 and a quick ratio of 0.12. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $171.47 and its 200-day simple moving average is $175.25. The stock has a market cap of $9.60 billion, a P/E ratio of 39.68, a P/E/G ratio of 3.35 and a beta of 0.99. EastGroup Properties, Inc. has a 1-year low of $155.10 and a 1-year high of $192.61.

EastGroup Properties (NYSE:EGP) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 6th. The real estate investment trust reported $2.15 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.16 by $0.99. EastGroup Properties had a return on equity of 7.89% and a net margin of 35.57%. Analysts predict that EastGroup Properties, Inc. will post 8.94 EPS for the current fiscal year.

EastGroup Properties Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 15th. Investors of record on Monday, March 31st will be given a dividend of $1.40 per share. This represents a $5.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.04%. EastGroup Properties’s payout ratio is currently 120.43%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

EGP has been the subject of several recent research reports. KeyCorp reaffirmed a “sector weight” rating on shares of EastGroup Properties in a report on Tuesday, December 17th. Jefferies Financial Group upgraded shares of EastGroup Properties from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their price objective for the stock from $174.00 to $194.00 in a research report on Thursday, January 2nd. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft assumed coverage on EastGroup Properties in a research report on Tuesday, January 14th. They set a “buy” rating and a $180.00 target price on the stock. Raymond James raised EastGroup Properties from an “outperform” rating to a “strong-buy” rating and upped their price target for the stock from $185.00 to $200.00 in a report on Wednesday, December 11th. Finally, Robert W. Baird boosted their price objective on EastGroup Properties from $192.00 to $194.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 19th. Eight investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nine have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, EastGroup Properties presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $191.65.

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.