Kovitz Investment Group Partners LLC Reduces Stake in EastGroup Properties, Inc. (NYSE:EGP)

Kovitz Investment Group Partners LLC trimmed its stake in EastGroup Properties, Inc. (NYSE:EGP) by 25.1% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 1,854 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after selling 620 shares during the quarter. Kovitz Investment Group Partners LLC’s holdings in EastGroup Properties were worth $346,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in EGP. FMR LLC boosted its stake in EastGroup Properties by 67.9% in the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 1,558,083 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $291,081,000 after acquiring an additional 629,827 shares during the last quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC raised its position in shares of EastGroup Properties by 355.1% in the third quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 391,594 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $73,158,000 after purchasing an additional 305,555 shares during the period. Ceredex Value Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of EastGroup Properties in the second quarter valued at approximately $35,131,000. Millennium Management LLC raised its position in shares of EastGroup Properties by 202.1% in the second quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 188,336 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $32,036,000 after purchasing an additional 125,991 shares during the period. Finally, Vision Capital Corp bought a new stake in shares of EastGroup Properties in the third quarter valued at approximately $18,308,000. 92.14% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

EastGroup Properties Trading Up 1.0 %

Shares of EGP opened at $171.25 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $8.48 billion, a P/E ratio of 35.38, a PEG ratio of 2.22 and a beta of 0.99. The company has a quick ratio of 0.08, a current ratio of 0.08 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.57. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $174.43 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $177.63. EastGroup Properties, Inc. has a twelve month low of $155.23 and a twelve month high of $192.61.

EastGroup Properties (NYSE:EGP) last announced its quarterly 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 firm had revenue of $162.88 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $161.52 million. EastGroup Properties had a net margin of 37.19% and a return on equity of 8.56%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 11.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $1.95 EPS. On average, research analysts anticipate that EastGroup Properties, Inc. will post 8.36 EPS for the current year.

EastGroup Properties Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, January 15th. Investors of record on Tuesday, December 31st will be paid a $1.40 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, December 31st. This represents a $5.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.27%. EastGroup Properties’s payout ratio is 115.70%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts have recently issued reports on EGP shares. Morgan Stanley boosted their price target 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. Royal Bank of Canada reissued a “sector perform” rating and issued a $186.00 price target on shares of EastGroup Properties in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. Mizuho raised shares of EastGroup Properties from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and upped their target price for the stock from $175.00 to $200.00 in a report on Thursday, September 5th. Evercore ISI upped 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, Barclays decreased their target price on shares of 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 equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating, eight have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $191.80.

EastGroup Properties 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.