EastGroup Properties (NYSE:EGP) Rating Increased to Buy at Jefferies Financial Group

EastGroup Properties (NYSE:EGP) was upgraded by equities researchers at Jefferies Financial Group from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report issued on Thursday, Marketbeat.com reports. The firm presently has a $194.00 price target on the real estate investment trust’s stock, up from their previous price target of $174.00. Jefferies Financial Group’s price objective would indicate a potential upside of 20.53% from the stock’s previous close.

Other equities research analysts have also issued research reports about the stock. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed a “sector perform” rating and set a $186.00 target price on shares of EastGroup Properties in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price objective on EastGroup Properties from $214.00 to $199.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, November 4th. Truist Financial decreased their target price on EastGroup Properties from $190.00 to $186.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, November 13th. Evercore ISI raised their target price on EastGroup Properties from $204.00 to $205.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, October 7th. Finally, KeyCorp reaffirmed a “sector weight” rating on shares of EastGroup Properties in a research note on Tuesday, December 17th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating, eight have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $191.56.

EastGroup Properties Trading Up 1.7 %

EGP opened at $160.95 on Thursday. The firm has a market capitalization of $7.97 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 33.25, a PEG ratio of 2.23 and a beta of 0.99. EastGroup Properties has a one year low of $155.23 and a one year high of $192.61. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $169.20 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $177.35. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.57, a current ratio of 0.08 and a quick ratio of 0.08.

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

Institutional Investors Weigh In On EastGroup Properties

Hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. FMR LLC boosted its stake in shares of 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 buying an additional 629,827 shares during the last quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC boosted its position in 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 purchasing an additional 305,555 shares during the last quarter. Millennium Management LLC grew its stake in shares of EastGroup Properties by 202.1% during 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 purchasing an additional 125,991 shares during the period. Vision Capital Corp purchased a new stake in shares of EastGroup Properties during the 3rd quarter valued at about $18,308,000. Finally, Thrivent Financial for Lutherans lifted its stake in shares of 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 worth $25,702,000 after purchasing an additional 64,099 shares during the period. 92.14% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.