EastGroup Properties, Inc. (NYSE:EGP) Short Interest Down 6.5% in August

EastGroup Properties, Inc. (NYSE:EGP) was the recipient of a large decline in short interest in August. As of August 15th, there was short interest totalling 1,010,000 shares, a decline of 6.5% from the July 31st total of 1,080,000 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 276,800 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 3.6 days.

EastGroup Properties Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:EGP opened at $186.03 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.60, a current ratio of 0.21 and a quick ratio of 0.21. The stock has a market capitalization of $9.07 billion, a P/E ratio of 40.35, a P/E/G ratio of 2.96 and a beta of 0.98. The business has a 50-day moving average of $181.97 and a two-hundred day moving average of $174.05. EastGroup Properties has a fifty-two week low of $154.75 and a fifty-two week high of $192.61.

EastGroup Properties (NYSE:EGP) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, July 23rd. The real estate investment trust reported $1.14 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.05 by ($0.91). EastGroup Properties had a return on equity of 8.69% and a net margin of 37.16%. The firm had revenue of $159.09 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $156.70 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $1.89 earnings per share. EastGroup Properties’s quarterly revenue was up 13.7% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts predict that EastGroup Properties will post 8.32 EPS for the current fiscal year.

EastGroup Properties Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, October 15th. Stockholders of record on Monday, September 30th will be paid a $1.40 dividend. This is an increase from EastGroup Properties’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.27. The ex-dividend date is Monday, September 30th. This represents a $5.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.01%. EastGroup Properties’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 110.20%.

Institutional Trading of EastGroup Properties

A number of hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Norges Bank bought a new position in EastGroup Properties during the fourth quarter valued at about $103,931,000. Boston Partners lifted its holdings in shares of EastGroup Properties by 42.7% during the 4th quarter. Boston Partners now owns 756,309 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $138,813,000 after acquiring an additional 226,169 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its position in shares of EastGroup Properties by 3.2% during the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 6,863,129 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $1,233,785,000 after acquiring an additional 210,207 shares in the last quarter. Ceredex Value Advisors LLC bought a new stake in EastGroup Properties in the second quarter valued at about $35,131,000. Finally, Zimmer Partners LP raised its position in EastGroup Properties by 465.6% in the first quarter. Zimmer Partners LP now owns 200,558 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $36,054,000 after purchasing an additional 165,100 shares in the last quarter. 92.14% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Wells Fargo & Company upgraded EastGroup Properties from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and increased their target price for the company from $179.00 to $214.00 in a report on Wednesday, August 28th. Morgan Stanley lifted their target price on EastGroup Properties from $158.00 to $186.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 22nd. Royal Bank of Canada increased their price target on shares of EastGroup Properties from $172.00 to $186.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 30th. Truist Financial boosted their price objective on shares of EastGroup Properties from $176.00 to $190.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, August 5th. Finally, Barclays increased their target price on shares of EastGroup Properties from $175.00 to $198.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 30th. Nine equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $189.53.

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.