EastGroup Properties (NYSE:EGP) Hits New 12-Month Low – What’s Next?

EastGroup Properties, Inc. (NYSE:EGP) hit a new 52-week low during trading on Friday . The stock traded as low as $155.10 and last traded at $156.04, with a volume of 23168 shares trading hands. The stock had previously closed at $158.71.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts have weighed in on the company. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed a “sector perform” rating and set a $186.00 price target on shares of EastGroup Properties in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. Jefferies Financial Group upgraded shares of EastGroup Properties from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their price target for the company from $174.00 to $194.00 in a research note on Thursday, January 2nd. Evercore ISI boosted their price objective on shares of EastGroup Properties from $204.00 to $205.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, October 7th. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their target price on shares of EastGroup Properties from $214.00 to $199.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, November 4th. Finally, Morgan Stanley reduced their price target on EastGroup Properties from $186.00 to $180.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Monday, December 30th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating, eight have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $191.56.

EastGroup Properties Price Performance

The company has a current ratio of 0.08, a quick ratio of 0.08 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.57. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $167.98 and a 200 day simple moving average of $177.13. The stock has a market capitalization of $7.73 billion, a P/E ratio of 32.25, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.23 and a beta of 1.00.

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

EastGroup Properties Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, January 15th. Investors of record on Tuesday, December 31st will be paid a dividend of $1.40 per share. This represents a $5.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.59%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, December 31st. EastGroup Properties’s payout ratio is currently 115.70%.

Institutional Trading of EastGroup Properties

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. V Square Quantitative Management LLC boosted its position in shares of EastGroup Properties by 47.7% in the third quarter. V Square Quantitative Management LLC now owns 189 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $35,000 after acquiring an additional 61 shares during the period. Quest Partners LLC lifted its stake in EastGroup Properties by 10,400.0% in the 2nd quarter. Quest Partners LLC now owns 210 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $36,000 after purchasing an additional 208 shares in the last quarter. Headlands Technologies LLC purchased a new position in shares of EastGroup Properties during the 2nd quarter valued at $66,000. Versant Capital Management Inc increased its holdings in shares of EastGroup Properties by 18.7% in the fourth quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 602 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $97,000 after purchasing an additional 95 shares during the period. Finally, GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its stake in EastGroup Properties by 90.7% during the third quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 536 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $100,000 after buying an additional 255 shares during the period. 92.14% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.