EastGroup Properties (NYSE:EGP) Reaches New 12-Month Low – Here’s What Happened

EastGroup Properties, Inc. (NYSE:EGP)’s stock price hit a new 52-week low during mid-day trading on Friday . The stock traded as low as $155.10 and last traded at $156.04, with a volume of 23168 shares changing hands. The stock had previously closed at $158.71.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts have recently commented on EGP shares. Jefferies Financial Group raised EastGroup Properties from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their target price for the stock from $174.00 to $194.00 in a research report on Thursday, January 2nd. KeyCorp reiterated a “sector weight” rating on shares of EastGroup Properties in a report on Tuesday, December 17th. Wedbush reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $209.00 price objective on shares of EastGroup Properties in a research report on Friday, October 25th. Truist Financial cut their target price on shares of EastGroup Properties from $190.00 to $186.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, November 13th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reiterated a “sector perform” rating and set a $186.00 price objective on shares of EastGroup Properties in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating, eight have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $191.56.

EastGroup Properties Stock Performance

The firm has a market cap of $7.72 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 32.21, a P/E/G ratio of 2.23 and a beta of 1.00. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $167.67 and its 200-day moving average price is $177.12. 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 (NYSE:EGP) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 23rd. The real estate investment trust reported $1.13 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.10 by ($0.97). The firm had revenue of $162.88 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $161.52 million. EastGroup Properties had a net margin of 37.19% and a return on equity of 8.56%. The company’s revenue was up 11.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company earned $1.95 EPS. On average, analysts anticipate that EastGroup Properties, Inc. will post 8.35 earnings per share for the current year.

EastGroup Properties Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, January 15th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, December 31st will be paid a dividend of $1.40 per share. This represents a $5.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.59%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, December 31st. EastGroup Properties’s dividend payout ratio is 115.70%.

Institutional Trading of EastGroup Properties

A number of large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Quest Partners LLC boosted its holdings in shares of EastGroup Properties by 10,400.0% in the 2nd quarter. Quest Partners LLC now owns 210 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $36,000 after acquiring an additional 208 shares in the last quarter. Headlands Technologies LLC bought a new position in shares of EastGroup Properties during the second quarter worth $66,000. American Century Companies Inc. grew its stake in EastGroup Properties by 3.3% in the second quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 170,461 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $28,995,000 after acquiring an additional 5,416 shares during the period. DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale grew its position in shares of EastGroup Properties by 5.0% in the 2nd quarter. DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale now owns 29,868 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $4,994,000 after purchasing an additional 1,425 shares during the period. Finally, Federated Hermes Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of EastGroup Properties by 7.1% in the second quarter. Federated Hermes Inc. now owns 7,346 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $1,250,000 after buying an additional 486 shares during the period. 92.14% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

EastGroup Properties Company 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.