EastGroup Properties, Inc. (NYSE:EGP) Shares Sold by HighTower Advisors LLC

HighTower Advisors LLC decreased its holdings in shares of EastGroup Properties, Inc. (NYSE:EGP) by 7.8% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 2,650 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after selling 223 shares during the period. HighTower Advisors LLC’s holdings in EastGroup Properties were worth $425,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new stake in EastGroup Properties during the 4th quarter worth approximately $116,756,000. FMR LLC grew its holdings in shares of 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 valued at $291,081,000 after buying an additional 629,827 shares during the last quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. increased its position in shares of EastGroup Properties by 210.6% in the 4th quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. now owns 707,732 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $113,584,000 after acquiring an additional 479,873 shares during the period. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC raised its stake in EastGroup Properties by 355.1% in the 3rd 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 during the last quarter. Finally, Vaughan Nelson Investment Management L.P. lifted its position in EastGroup Properties by 50.9% during the 4th quarter. Vaughan Nelson Investment Management L.P. now owns 517,770 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $83,098,000 after acquiring an additional 174,630 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.14% of the company’s stock.

EastGroup Properties Stock Down 0.2 %

Shares of EGP opened at $176.01 on Tuesday. The firm has a market cap of $9.16 billion, a P/E ratio of 37.85, a PEG ratio of 3.35 and a beta of 0.99. EastGroup Properties, Inc. has a 12 month low of $155.10 and a 12 month high of $192.61. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $177.21 and its two-hundred day moving average is $174.39. The company has a current ratio of 0.12, a quick ratio of 0.12 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.46.

EastGroup Properties (NYSE:EGP) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 6th. The real estate investment trust reported $2.15 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating 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%. Analysts predict that EastGroup Properties, Inc. will post 8.94 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

EastGroup Properties Announces Dividend

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

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have recently weighed in on EGP. KeyCorp reissued a “sector weight” rating on shares of EastGroup Properties in a report on Tuesday, December 17th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft started coverage on shares of EastGroup Properties in a report on Tuesday, January 14th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $180.00 price target on the stock. Raymond James raised shares of EastGroup Properties from an “outperform” rating to a “strong-buy” rating and upped their price objective for the company from $185.00 to $200.00 in a report on Wednesday, December 11th. Jefferies Financial Group raised shares of EastGroup Properties from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their target price for the stock from $174.00 to $194.00 in a report on Thursday, January 2nd. Finally, Morgan Stanley decreased their target price on shares of EastGroup Properties from $186.00 to $180.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, December 30th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating, eight have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $190.47.

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.