EastGroup Properties (NYSE:EGP) Price Target Cut to $199.00 by Analysts at Wells Fargo & Company

EastGroup Properties (NYSE:EGP) had its price target trimmed by Wells Fargo & Company from $214.00 to $199.00 in a research report report published on Monday, Benzinga reports. The firm currently has an overweight rating on the real estate investment trust’s stock.

Several other analysts also recently commented on the company. KeyCorp raised their target price on EastGroup Properties from $178.00 to $198.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 30th. Mizuho raised EastGroup Properties from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and raised their price objective for the company from $175.00 to $200.00 in a research note on Thursday, September 5th. Evercore ISI upped their target price on EastGroup Properties from $204.00 to $205.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, October 7th. Morgan Stanley increased their target price on EastGroup Properties from $158.00 to $186.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, August 22nd. Finally, StockNews.com lowered shares of EastGroup Properties from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Monday, October 28th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, EastGroup Properties has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $191.50.

EastGroup Properties Price Performance

Shares of EGP opened at $174.98 on Monday. The firm has a market cap of $8.66 billion, a PE ratio of 36.15, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.55 and a beta of 1.00. EastGroup Properties has a 52-week low of $155.23 and a 52-week high of $192.61. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $182.34 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $175.80. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.57, a quick ratio of 0.08 and a current ratio of 0.08.

EastGroup Properties (NYSE:EGP) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, October 23rd. The real estate investment trust reported $1.13 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.10 by ($0.97). The company had revenue of $162.88 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $161.52 million. EastGroup Properties had a net margin of 37.19% and a return on equity of 8.56%. The firm’s revenue was up 11.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $1.95 EPS. On average, equities analysts anticipate that EastGroup Properties will post 8.35 EPS for the current year.

EastGroup Properties Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, October 15th. Shareholders of record on Monday, September 30th were given a $1.40 dividend. This represents a $5.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.20%. This is an increase from EastGroup Properties’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.27. The ex-dividend date was Monday, September 30th. EastGroup Properties’s dividend payout ratio is presently 115.70%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On EastGroup Properties

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. Vaughan Nelson Investment Management L.P. increased its position in shares of EastGroup Properties by 22.2% during the third quarter. Vaughan Nelson Investment Management L.P. now owns 343,140 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $64,105,000 after acquiring an additional 62,381 shares during the last quarter. Natixis Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of EastGroup Properties by 13.6% during the 3rd quarter. Natixis Advisors LLC now owns 52,679 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $9,842,000 after purchasing an additional 6,307 shares during the last quarter. Metis Global Partners LLC raised its stake in shares of EastGroup Properties by 31.3% during the 3rd quarter. Metis Global Partners LLC now owns 5,008 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $936,000 after purchasing an additional 1,193 shares during the period. Curi RMB Capital LLC boosted its holdings in shares of EastGroup Properties by 1.0% in the 3rd quarter. Curi RMB Capital LLC now owns 128,662 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $24,037,000 after buying an additional 1,283 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of EastGroup Properties by 11.2% in the 3rd quarter. Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. now owns 16,394 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $3,063,000 after buying an additional 1,648 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.14% of the company’s stock.

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.