By otakuyassine3@gmail.com 
EastGroup Properties, Inc. (NYSE:EGP – Get Free Report) was the recipient of a large increase in short interest in November. As of November 30th, there was short interest totalling 1,840,000 shares, an increase of 5.1% from the November 15th total of 1,750,000 shares. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 347,500 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 5.3 days.
Analysts Set New Price Targets
A number of research analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Evercore ISI lifted their price objective on EastGroup Properties from $204.00 to $205.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, October 7th. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price objective on EastGroup Properties from $214.00 to $199.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, November 4th. Morgan Stanley lifted their price objective on EastGroup Properties from $158.00 to $186.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 22nd. Royal Bank of Canada reissued a “sector perform” rating and issued a $186.00 price target on shares of EastGroup Properties in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. Finally, Barclays lowered their price target on EastGroup Properties from $198.00 to $193.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, October 10th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating, seven have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $191.80.
Check Out Our Latest Analysis on EGP
Hedge Funds Weigh In On EastGroup Properties
Several hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Gradient Investments LLC purchased a new stake in shares of EastGroup Properties in the 2nd quarter worth $32,000. V Square Quantitative Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of 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 worth $35,000 after buying an additional 61 shares during the period. Quest Partners LLC lifted its holdings in shares of EastGroup Properties by 10,400.0% in the 2nd quarter. Quest Partners LLC now owns 210 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $36,000 after buying an additional 208 shares during the period. Headlands Technologies LLC purchased a new stake in shares of EastGroup Properties in the 2nd quarter worth $66,000. Finally, GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its holdings in shares of EastGroup Properties by 90.7% in the 3rd quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 536 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $100,000 after buying an additional 255 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 92.14% of the company’s stock.
EastGroup Properties Trading Down 1.2 %
Shares of NYSE EGP traded down $1.98 during trading hours on Tuesday, hitting $167.72. 246,456 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 301,988. The stock has a market capitalization of $8.30 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 34.65, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.22 and a beta of 0.99. The company has a current ratio of 0.08, a quick ratio of 0.08 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.57. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $174.07 and its 200 day moving average price is $177.97. EastGroup Properties has a 12 month low of $155.23 and a 12 month high of $192.61.
EastGroup Properties (NYSE:EGP – Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, October 23rd. The real estate investment trust reported $1.13 earnings per share 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 net margin of 37.19% and a return on equity of 8.56%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 11.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $1.95 EPS. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that EastGroup Properties will post 8.36 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.
EastGroup Properties Dividend Announcement
The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, January 15th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, December 31st will be given a $1.40 dividend. This represents a $5.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.34%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, December 31st. EastGroup Properties’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 115.70%.
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.
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