EastGroup Properties (NYSE:EGP) Rating Increased to Hold at StockNews.com

EastGroup Properties (NYSE:EGP) was upgraded by stock analysts at StockNews.com from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report issued to clients and investors on Friday.

Several other analysts also recently commented on the stock. Truist Financial raised shares of EastGroup Properties from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $180.00 price objective for the company in a research report on Thursday. KeyCorp restated a “sector weight” rating on shares of EastGroup Properties in a report on Tuesday, December 17th. Robert W. Baird upped their price objective on shares of EastGroup Properties from $192.00 to $194.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 19th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft initiated coverage on EastGroup Properties in a research note on Tuesday, January 14th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $180.00 target price for the company. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group raised EastGroup Properties from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their target price for the company from $174.00 to $194.00 in a research report on Thursday, January 2nd. Nine research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, EastGroup Properties presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $189.00.

EastGroup Properties Price Performance

Shares of NYSE EGP opened at $154.91 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $8.06 billion, a PE ratio of 33.31, a P/E/G ratio of 3.35 and a beta of 0.94. The company has a quick ratio of 0.12, a current ratio of 0.12 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.46. EastGroup Properties has a twelve month low of $137.67 and a twelve month high of $192.61. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $174.69 and a 200 day simple moving average of $172.22.

EastGroup Properties (NYSE:EGP) last announced its quarterly earnings data 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 return on equity of 7.89% and a net margin of 35.57%. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that EastGroup Properties will post 8.94 EPS for the current year.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Franklin Resources Inc. increased its stake in EastGroup Properties by 337.0% in the 3rd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 49,097 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $8,728,000 after buying an additional 37,863 shares during the last quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC grew its holdings in shares of EastGroup Properties by 20.4% in the fourth quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 1,625 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $261,000 after acquiring an additional 275 shares in the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp increased its position in shares of EastGroup Properties by 5.5% during the fourth quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 452,429 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $72,610,000 after acquiring an additional 23,626 shares during the last quarter. BankPlus Trust Department bought a new stake in EastGroup Properties during the fourth quarter worth $1,871,000. Finally, Nordea Investment Management AB boosted its position in EastGroup Properties by 6.1% in the fourth quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 72,392 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $11,667,000 after purchasing an additional 4,176 shares during the last quarter. 92.14% of the stock is owned by 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.