EastGroup Properties, Inc. (NYSE:EGP) Shares Purchased by Xponance Inc.

Xponance Inc. grew its stake in shares of EastGroup Properties, Inc. (NYSE:EGP) by 6.9% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 5,622 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after acquiring an additional 365 shares during the quarter. Xponance Inc.’s holdings in EastGroup Properties were worth $902,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors have also modified their holdings of EGP. Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new stake in EastGroup Properties during the fourth quarter valued at about $116,756,000. FMR LLC lifted 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 valued at $291,081,000 after purchasing an additional 629,827 shares in the last quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. increased its position in EastGroup Properties by 210.6% during the 4th quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. now owns 707,732 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $113,584,000 after purchasing an additional 479,873 shares in the last quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC raised its holdings 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 valued at $73,158,000 after buying an additional 305,555 shares during the period. Finally, Boston Partners raised its holdings in EastGroup Properties by 34.1% in the fourth quarter. Boston Partners now owns 1,056,232 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $169,533,000 after buying an additional 268,359 shares during the period. 92.14% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

EastGroup Properties Price Performance

Shares of EGP opened at $176.32 on Tuesday. EastGroup Properties, Inc. has a 52 week low of $155.10 and a 52 week high of $192.61. The company has a current ratio of 0.12, a quick ratio of 0.12 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.46. The firm has a market cap of $9.17 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 37.92, a PEG ratio of 3.35 and a beta of 0.99. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $175.79 and a 200-day moving average of $174.69.

EastGroup Properties (NYSE:EGP) last released its quarterly earnings data 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%. As a group, analysts forecast that EastGroup Properties, Inc. will post 8.94 EPS for the current year.

EastGroup Properties Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 15th. Investors of record on Monday, March 31st will be paid a dividend of $1.40 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 31st. This represents a $5.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.18%. EastGroup Properties’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 120.43%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. KeyCorp reissued a “sector weight” rating on shares of EastGroup Properties in a research report on Tuesday, December 17th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft started coverage on EastGroup Properties in a report on Tuesday, January 14th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $180.00 price target for the company. Jefferies Financial Group upgraded EastGroup Properties from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their price objective for the stock from $174.00 to $194.00 in a research note on Thursday, January 2nd. Evercore ISI reiterated an “in-line” rating and issued a $185.00 target price (up previously from $181.00) on shares of EastGroup Properties in a research note on Monday, March 17th. Finally, Raymond James raised EastGroup Properties from an “outperform” rating to a “strong-buy” rating and boosted their price target for the stock from $185.00 to $200.00 in a research report on Wednesday, December 11th. Nine analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $190.47.

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.