Mariner LLC Purchases 246 Shares of EastGroup Properties, Inc. (NYSE:EGP)

Mariner LLC grew its position in EastGroup Properties, Inc. (NYSE:EGP) by 4.7% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 5,516 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after purchasing an additional 246 shares during the quarter. Mariner LLC’s holdings in EastGroup Properties were worth $885,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of EGP. Cohen & Steers Inc. increased its holdings in shares of EastGroup Properties by 141.6% during the 4th quarter. Cohen & Steers Inc. now owns 2,855,920 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $458,347,000 after purchasing an additional 1,673,663 shares during the period. Barclays PLC raised its position in shares of EastGroup Properties by 92.1% during the fourth quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 61,581 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $9,883,000 after buying an additional 29,521 shares during the last quarter. Sterling Capital Management LLC raised its position in shares of EastGroup Properties by 4.0% during the fourth quarter. Sterling Capital Management LLC now owns 20,521 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $3,293,000 after buying an additional 790 shares during the last quarter. Covestor Ltd raised its position in shares of EastGroup Properties by 26.6% during the fourth quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 1,099 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $176,000 after buying an additional 231 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Treasurer of the State of North Carolina raised its position in shares of EastGroup Properties by 2.2% during the fourth quarter. Treasurer of the State of North Carolina now owns 21,594 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $3,466,000 after buying an additional 470 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 92.14% of the company’s stock.

EastGroup Properties Price Performance

EGP opened at $163.92 on Tuesday. EastGroup Properties, Inc. has a one year low of $137.67 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 company’s 50 day simple moving average is $170.72 and its 200-day simple moving average is $170.49. The stock has a market capitalization of $8.57 billion, a P/E ratio of 35.25, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.35 and a beta of 0.94.

EastGroup Properties (NYSE:EGP) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 23rd. The real estate investment trust reported $2.12 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.11 by $0.01. EastGroup Properties had a net margin of 35.57% and a return on equity of 7.89%. The business had revenue of $174.45 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $169.67 million. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $1.98 earnings per share. EastGroup Properties’s revenue was up 13.1% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts anticipate that EastGroup Properties, Inc. will post 8.94 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

EastGroup Properties Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, April 15th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 31st were issued a $1.40 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, March 31st. This represents a $5.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.42%. EastGroup Properties’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 122.54%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

EGP has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. StockNews.com raised shares of EastGroup Properties from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Sunday. Raymond James set a $190.00 price objective on shares of EastGroup Properties and gave the company a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Monday, April 14th. Morgan Stanley dropped their price target 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. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft began coverage on shares of EastGroup Properties in a research report on Tuesday, January 14th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $180.00 price target for the company. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group raised shares of EastGroup Properties from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their price target for the stock from $174.00 to $194.00 in a research report on Thursday, January 2nd. Nine analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $187.81.

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.