Vanguard Group Inc. Has $1.12 Billion Position in EastGroup Properties, Inc. (NYSE:EGP)

Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its stake in shares of EastGroup Properties, Inc. (NYSE:EGP) by 1.0% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 6,990,950 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after purchasing an additional 72,199 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. owned about 14.12% of EastGroup Properties worth $1,121,978,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in EGP. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. purchased a new position in shares of EastGroup Properties during the 3rd quarter valued at $206,000. Cerity Partners LLC grew its stake in EastGroup Properties by 35.6% in the third quarter. Cerity Partners LLC now owns 13,624 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $2,545,000 after purchasing an additional 3,574 shares in the last quarter. Bank of Montreal Can grew its stake in EastGroup Properties by 11.9% in the third quarter. Bank of Montreal Can now owns 13,061 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $2,451,000 after purchasing an additional 1,392 shares in the last quarter. FMR LLC increased its position in EastGroup Properties by 67.9% in 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 during the last quarter. Finally, D.A. Davidson & CO. raised its stake in shares of EastGroup Properties by 36.8% during the 3rd quarter. D.A. Davidson & CO. now owns 1,674 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $313,000 after purchasing an additional 450 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.14% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages recently commented on EGP. Truist Financial boosted their price target on EastGroup Properties from $168.00 to $180.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, February 14th. StockNews.com raised shares of EastGroup Properties from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, February 10th. Morgan Stanley cut their price target on shares of EastGroup Properties from $186.00 to $180.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, December 30th. KeyCorp reiterated a “sector weight” rating on shares of EastGroup Properties in a report on Tuesday, December 17th. Finally, Robert W. Baird raised their target price on EastGroup Properties from $192.00 to $194.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 19th. Nine analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $190.47.

EastGroup Properties Trading Down 0.3 %

Shares of EastGroup Properties stock opened at $176.19 on Friday. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $176.92 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $174.59. The firm has a market capitalization of $9.17 billion, a PE ratio of 37.89, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.35 and a beta of 0.99. EastGroup Properties, Inc. has a 52-week low of $155.10 and a 52-week high of $192.61. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.46, a current ratio of 0.12 and a quick ratio of 0.12.

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

EastGroup Properties Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 15th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 31st will be paid a $1.40 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 31st. This represents a $5.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.18%. EastGroup Properties’s dividend payout ratio is presently 120.43%.

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.