New York State Teachers Retirement System Cuts Stock Holdings in EastGroup Properties, Inc. (NYSE:EGP)

New York State Teachers Retirement System lessened its holdings in EastGroup Properties, Inc. (NYSE:EGP) by 8.0% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 53,130 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after selling 4,600 shares during the quarter. New York State Teachers Retirement System’s holdings in EastGroup Properties were worth $8,527,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Cerity Partners LLC lifted its holdings in EastGroup Properties by 35.6% in the third quarter. Cerity Partners LLC now owns 13,624 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $2,545,000 after acquiring an additional 3,574 shares during the period. Ausbil Investment Management Ltd increased its stake in EastGroup Properties by 261.6% in the 3rd quarter. Ausbil Investment Management Ltd now owns 6,737 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $1,259,000 after purchasing an additional 4,874 shares in the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. raised its holdings in EastGroup Properties by 337.0% during the third quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 49,097 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $8,728,000 after purchasing an additional 37,863 shares during the last quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC grew its holdings in EastGroup Properties by 20.4% in the fourth quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 1,625 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $261,000 after purchasing an additional 275 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Nordea Investment Management AB increased its position in shares of EastGroup Properties by 6.1% in the fourth quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 72,392 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $11,667,000 after buying an additional 4,176 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.14% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages have issued reports on EGP. Jefferies Financial Group upgraded shares of EastGroup Properties from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their target price for the stock from $174.00 to $194.00 in a research report on Thursday, January 2nd. Truist Financial upped their price objective on EastGroup Properties from $168.00 to $180.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, February 14th. Wedbush reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $209.00 price objective on shares of EastGroup Properties in a research report on Friday, October 25th. KeyCorp restated a “sector weight” rating on shares of EastGroup Properties in a report on Tuesday, December 17th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price target on shares of EastGroup Properties from $214.00 to $199.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Monday, November 4th. Eight investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nine have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $190.53.

EastGroup Properties Stock Performance

NYSE EGP opened at $179.61 on Wednesday. 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, Inc. has a 1-year low of $155.10 and a 1-year high of $192.61. The firm has a market capitalization of $8.89 billion, a P/E ratio of 38.63, a P/E/G ratio of 3.23 and a beta of 1.00. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $166.83 and its 200-day simple moving average is $175.20.

EastGroup Properties (NYSE:EGP) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 6th. The real estate investment trust reported $2.15 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.16 by $0.99. EastGroup Properties had a net margin of 35.57% and a return on equity of 8.27%. Equities analysts predict that EastGroup Properties, Inc. will post 8.94 EPS for the current year.

EastGroup Properties Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, January 15th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, December 31st were given a $1.40 dividend. This represents a $5.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.12%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, December 31st. EastGroup Properties’s payout ratio is 120.43%.

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.