Ceredex Value Advisors LLC Reduces Position in EastGroup Properties, Inc. (NYSE:EGP)

Ceredex Value Advisors LLC lowered its stake in shares of EastGroup Properties, Inc. (NYSE:EGP) by 24.7% during the third quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 154,450 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after selling 50,550 shares during the period. Ceredex Value Advisors LLC owned 0.32% of EastGroup Properties worth $29,071,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of EGP. V Square Quantitative Management LLC increased its holdings in EastGroup Properties by 47.7% in the 3rd quarter. V Square Quantitative Management LLC now owns 189 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $35,000 after purchasing an additional 61 shares during the last quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its stake in EastGroup Properties by 30.2% during the first quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 345 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $62,000 after purchasing an additional 80 shares during the last quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC grew its position in shares of EastGroup Properties by 7.1% in the 3rd quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 1,350 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $252,000 after buying an additional 90 shares during the last quarter. Azzad Asset Management Inc. ADV boosted its stake in EastGroup Properties by 4.9% in the third quarter. Azzad Asset Management Inc. ADV now owns 2,085 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $389,000 after acquiring an additional 98 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Nisa Investment Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of EastGroup Properties by 0.3% during the second quarter. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC now owns 31,093 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $5,328,000 after purchasing an additional 103 shares in the last quarter. 92.14% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have weighed in on EGP. Evercore ISI increased their price objective on EastGroup Properties from $204.00 to $205.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, October 7th. Wells Fargo & Company upgraded shares of EastGroup Properties from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and increased their price objective for the stock from $179.00 to $214.00 in a report on Wednesday, August 28th. Mizuho raised EastGroup Properties from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and boosted their price target for the company from $175.00 to $200.00 in a research report on Thursday, September 5th. Wedbush reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $209.00 price target on shares of EastGroup Properties in a research note on Friday, October 25th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reissued a “sector perform” rating and set a $186.00 price objective on shares of EastGroup Properties in a report on Wednesday. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, EastGroup Properties has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $192.57.

EastGroup Properties Price Performance

NYSE EGP opened at $171.20 on Friday. EastGroup Properties, Inc. has a 12-month low of $155.23 and a 12-month high of $192.61. The stock has a market capitalization of $8.48 billion, a PE ratio of 35.39, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.60 and a beta of 0.99. The company has a quick ratio of 0.08, a current ratio of 0.08 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.57. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $182.93 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $175.46.

EastGroup Properties (NYSE:EGP) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 23rd. The real estate investment trust reported $1.13 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.10 by ($0.97). The company had revenue of $162.88 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $161.52 million. EastGroup Properties had a return on equity of 8.56% and a net margin of 37.19%. The firm’s revenue was up 11.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $1.95 EPS. As a group, equities analysts predict that EastGroup Properties, Inc. will post 8.34 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

EastGroup Properties Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, October 15th. Investors of record on Monday, September 30th were paid a $1.40 dividend. This represents a $5.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.27%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, September 30th. This is a boost from EastGroup Properties’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.27. EastGroup Properties’s dividend payout ratio is 115.70%.

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.