Aurora Investment Counsel Lowers Stake in EastGroup Properties, Inc. (NYSE:EGP)

Aurora Investment Counsel lowered its position in shares of EastGroup Properties, Inc. (NYSE:EGP) by 0.7% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 9,500 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after selling 63 shares during the quarter. Aurora Investment Counsel’s holdings in EastGroup Properties were worth $1,775,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in EGP. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD raised its stake in EastGroup Properties by 7.9% during the first quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 975,450 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $175,359,000 after purchasing an additional 71,614 shares in the last quarter. Boston Partners raised its stake in shares of EastGroup Properties by 26.1% in the first quarter. Boston Partners now owns 953,736 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $171,399,000 after acquiring an additional 197,427 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its stake in shares of EastGroup Properties by 7.9% in the second quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 728,092 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $123,848,000 after acquiring an additional 53,083 shares during the period. Bank of New York Mellon Corp grew its holdings in shares of EastGroup Properties by 0.5% in the second quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 479,323 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $81,533,000 after purchasing an additional 2,418 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Vaughan Nelson Investment Management L.P. grew its holdings in shares of EastGroup Properties by 22.2% in the third quarter. Vaughan Nelson Investment Management L.P. now owns 343,140 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $64,105,000 after purchasing an additional 62,381 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.14% of the company’s stock.

EastGroup Properties Price Performance

Shares of NYSE EGP opened at $171.01 on Thursday. The stock has a market capitalization of $8.47 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 35.33, a PEG ratio of 2.26 and a beta of 1.00. EastGroup Properties, Inc. has a 12 month low of $155.23 and a 12 month high of $192.61. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $179.76 and its 200-day simple moving average is $176.83. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.57, a current ratio of 0.08 and a quick ratio of 0.08.

EastGroup Properties (NYSE:EGP) last released its quarterly 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). EastGroup Properties had a net margin of 37.19% and a return on equity of 8.56%. The company had revenue of $162.88 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $161.52 million. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $1.95 EPS. EastGroup Properties’s revenue was up 11.2% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts expect that EastGroup Properties, Inc. will post 8.36 EPS for the current year.

EastGroup Properties Increases Dividend

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

Analyst Ratings Changes

EGP has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. Truist Financial cut their price target on shares of EastGroup Properties from $190.00 to $186.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, November 13th. 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. Morgan Stanley increased their target price on shares of EastGroup Properties from $158.00 to $186.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, August 22nd. Evercore ISI increased their target price on shares of EastGroup Properties from $204.00 to $205.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, October 7th. Finally, Wedbush reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $209.00 target price on shares of EastGroup Properties in a report on Friday, October 25th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $191.21.

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.