Values First Advisors Inc. Purchases New Shares in EastGroup Properties, Inc. (NYSE:EGP)

Values First Advisors Inc. acquired a new position in EastGroup Properties, Inc. (NYSE:EGP) in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor acquired 1,118 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock, valued at approximately $209,000.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Gradient Investments LLC bought a new position in shares of EastGroup Properties in the 2nd quarter worth about $32,000. V Square Quantitative Management LLC grew its holdings in 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 worth $35,000 after purchasing an additional 61 shares during the period. Quest Partners LLC increased its stake in shares of EastGroup Properties by 10,400.0% during the second quarter. Quest Partners LLC now owns 210 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $36,000 after purchasing an additional 208 shares in the last quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of 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 valued at $62,000 after purchasing an additional 80 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Headlands Technologies LLC purchased a new position in shares of EastGroup Properties during the second quarter valued at approximately $66,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.14% of the company’s stock.

EastGroup Properties Trading Down 1.4 %

Shares of EGP stock opened at $178.61 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 0.21, a quick ratio of 0.21 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.60. 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 $8.60 billion, a P/E ratio of 38.74, a P/E/G ratio of 2.65 and a beta of 0.99. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $184.18 and its 200 day moving average is $175.43.

EastGroup Properties (NYSE:EGP) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, July 23rd. The real estate investment trust reported $1.14 earnings per share (EPS) 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 analysts’ expectations of $156.70 million. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $1.89 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 13.7% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts expect that EastGroup Properties, Inc. will post 8.32 earnings per share for the current year.

EastGroup Properties Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, October 15th. Stockholders of record on Monday, September 30th were given a dividend of $1.40 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, September 30th. This represents a $5.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.14%. This is a positive change from EastGroup Properties’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.27. EastGroup Properties’s dividend payout ratio is presently 121.48%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms recently weighed in on EGP. KeyCorp raised their price objective on EastGroup Properties from $178.00 to $198.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 30th. Royal Bank of Canada raised their price target on EastGroup Properties from $172.00 to $186.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 30th. Wells Fargo & Company upgraded shares of EastGroup Properties from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and upped their price target for the stock from $179.00 to $214.00 in a research note on Wednesday, August 28th. Morgan Stanley increased their price objective on shares of EastGroup Properties from $158.00 to $186.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 22nd. Finally, Barclays decreased their target price on shares of EastGroup Properties from $198.00 to $193.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, October 10th. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $191.73.

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.