Proficio Capital Partners LLC Acquires New Holdings in EastGroup Properties, Inc. (NYSE:EGP)

Proficio Capital Partners LLC bought a new position in shares of EastGroup Properties, Inc. (NYSE:EGP) during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund bought 24,715 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock, valued at approximately $3,967,000.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in EGP. Canton Hathaway LLC bought a new position in shares of EastGroup Properties during the fourth quarter valued at $30,000. Thurston Springer Miller Herd & Titak Inc. increased its holdings in EastGroup Properties by 503.3% in the fourth quarter. Thurston Springer Miller Herd & Titak Inc. now owns 362 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $58,000 after purchasing an additional 302 shares during the period. Principal Securities Inc. raised its position in EastGroup Properties by 18.5% during the 4th quarter. Principal Securities Inc. now owns 538 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $86,000 after purchasing an additional 84 shares during the last quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc raised its position in EastGroup Properties by 18.7% during the 4th quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 602 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $97,000 after purchasing an additional 95 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Quarry LP acquired a new position in EastGroup Properties during the 3rd quarter worth about $102,000. 92.14% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts have recently weighed in on EGP shares. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft began coverage on EastGroup Properties in a research note on Tuesday, January 14th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $180.00 price target for the company. Morgan Stanley decreased their target price on shares of EastGroup Properties from $186.00 to $180.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, December 30th. StockNews.com upgraded shares of EastGroup Properties from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, February 10th. Raymond James upgraded shares of EastGroup Properties from an “outperform” rating to a “strong-buy” rating and increased their price objective for the stock from $185.00 to $200.00 in a research report on Wednesday, December 11th. Finally, Robert W. Baird lifted their target price on shares of EastGroup Properties from $192.00 to $194.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 19th. Nine equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, EastGroup Properties presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $190.47.

EastGroup Properties Stock Performance

Shares of EastGroup Properties stock opened at $181.23 on Tuesday. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $173.91 and a 200 day simple moving average of $175.01. EastGroup Properties, Inc. has a one year low of $155.10 and a one year high of $192.61. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.46, a current ratio of 0.12 and a quick ratio of 0.12. The firm has a market capitalization of $9.43 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 38.97, a PEG ratio of 3.35 and a beta of 0.99.

EastGroup Properties (NYSE:EGP) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 6th. The real estate investment trust reported $2.15 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.16 by $0.99. EastGroup Properties had a return on equity of 7.89% and a net margin of 35.57%. On average, research analysts anticipate that EastGroup Properties, Inc. will post 8.94 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

EastGroup Properties Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 15th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 31st will be issued a dividend of $1.40 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 31st. This represents a $5.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.09%. 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.