American Century Companies Inc. Cuts Stock Position in EastGroup Properties, Inc. (NYSE:EGP)

American Century Companies Inc. decreased its holdings in shares of EastGroup Properties, Inc. (NYSE:EGP) by 16.1% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 154,020 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after selling 29,664 shares during the period. American Century Companies Inc. owned about 0.31% of EastGroup Properties worth $24,719,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. CIBC Asset Management Inc lifted its holdings in EastGroup Properties by 5.2% during the fourth quarter. CIBC Asset Management Inc now owns 1,458 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $234,000 after purchasing an additional 72 shares in the last quarter. Principal Securities Inc. lifted its position in shares of EastGroup Properties by 18.5% in the fourth quarter. Principal Securities Inc. now owns 538 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $86,000 after acquiring an additional 84 shares in the last quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc lifted its holdings in EastGroup Properties by 18.7% in the 4th quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 602 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $97,000 after purchasing an additional 95 shares in the last quarter. waypoint wealth counsel grew its holdings in shares of EastGroup Properties by 1.9% during the fourth quarter. waypoint wealth counsel now owns 5,400 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $867,000 after buying an additional 100 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Oregon Public Employees Retirement Fund raised its position in shares of EastGroup Properties by 1.0% in the fourth quarter. Oregon Public Employees Retirement Fund now owns 10,042 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $1,612,000 after buying an additional 100 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.14% of the company’s stock.

EastGroup Properties Stock Performance

Shares of EGP stock opened at $176.19 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.46, a quick ratio of 0.12 and a current ratio of 0.12. The firm has a market cap of $9.17 billion, a P/E ratio of 37.89, a P/E/G ratio of 3.35 and a beta of 0.99. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $176.92 and its 200-day moving average price is $174.51. EastGroup Properties, Inc. has a one year low of $155.10 and a one year high of $192.61.

EastGroup Properties (NYSE:EGP) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 6th. The real estate investment trust reported $2.15 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.16 by $0.99. EastGroup Properties had a return on equity of 7.89% and a net margin of 35.57%. As a group, equities research analysts predict that EastGroup Properties, Inc. will post 8.94 EPS for the current year.

EastGroup Properties Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 15th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 31st will be paid a dividend of $1.40 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 31st. This represents a $5.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.18%. EastGroup Properties’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 120.43%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms recently weighed in on EGP. StockNews.com upgraded shares of EastGroup Properties from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, February 10th. Truist Financial upped their price target on EastGroup Properties from $168.00 to $180.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, February 14th. Evercore ISI reiterated an “in-line” rating and set a $185.00 price objective (up previously from $181.00) on shares of EastGroup Properties in a research report on Monday, March 17th. KeyCorp restated a “sector weight” rating on shares of EastGroup Properties in a report on Tuesday, December 17th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group upgraded EastGroup Properties from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their price target for the stock from $174.00 to $194.00 in a report on Thursday, January 2nd. Nine equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $190.47.

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.