BMO Capital Markets Initiates Coverage on EastGroup Properties (NYSE:EGP)

Analysts at BMO Capital Markets began coverage on shares of EastGroup Properties (NYSE:EGP) in a research note issued to investors on Monday, MarketBeat.com reports. The brokerage set an “outperform” rating and a $190.00 price target on the real estate investment trust’s stock. BMO Capital Markets’ target price suggests a potential upside of 14.53% from the company’s previous close.

A number of other analysts have also recently issued reports on EGP. KeyCorp increased their target price on EastGroup Properties from $188.00 to $198.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, February 12th. Royal Bank of Canada raised their price objective on shares of EastGroup Properties from $180.00 to $190.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a report on Friday, February 16th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. assumed coverage on shares of EastGroup Properties in a research note on Thursday, April 11th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $190.00 target price for the company. Barclays assumed coverage on EastGroup Properties in a research note on Wednesday, March 27th. They issued an “equal weight” rating and a $181.00 price target on the stock. Finally, Mizuho reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and set a $185.00 price objective on shares of EastGroup Properties in a research report on Tuesday, April 2nd. Nine investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $188.47.

EastGroup Properties Trading Up 1.6 %

EGP opened at $165.89 on Monday. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $176.44 and a 200 day simple moving average of $175.37. The company has a market cap of $7.96 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 37.62, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.52 and a beta of 0.93. EastGroup Properties has a fifty-two week low of $154.75 and a fifty-two week high of $188.85. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.64, a current ratio of 0.28 and a quick ratio of 0.28.

Insider Activity at EastGroup Properties

In other EastGroup Properties news, CFO Brent Wood sold 2,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $182.74, for a total transaction of $456,850.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 102,617 shares in the company, valued at approximately $18,752,230.58. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. 1.00% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of EastGroup Properties

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Louisiana State Employees Retirement System grew its holdings in shares of EastGroup Properties by 5.4% during the 1st quarter. Louisiana State Employees Retirement System now owns 13,700 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $2,463,000 after purchasing an additional 700 shares during the last quarter. New Mexico Educational Retirement Board raised its holdings in EastGroup Properties by 12.4% during the 1st quarter. New Mexico Educational Retirement Board now owns 10,000 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $1,798,000 after purchasing an additional 1,100 shares during the last quarter. Raymond James & Associates lifted its position in shares of EastGroup Properties by 4.8% in the 1st quarter. Raymond James & Associates now owns 126,369 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $22,717,000 after purchasing an additional 5,789 shares during the period. New Perspectives Inc acquired a new stake in shares of EastGroup Properties during the first quarter worth $617,000. Finally, State of Alaska Department of Revenue raised its stake in EastGroup Properties by 1.2% during the first quarter. State of Alaska Department of Revenue now owns 26,998 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $4,852,000 after buying an additional 312 shares during the last quarter. 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.