Federated Hermes Inc. Buys 625 Shares of EastGroup Properties, Inc. (NYSE:EGP)

Federated Hermes Inc. increased its stake in EastGroup Properties, Inc. (NYSE:EGP) by 10.5% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 6,568 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after acquiring an additional 625 shares during the period. Federated Hermes Inc.’s holdings in EastGroup Properties were worth $1,157,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of EGP. New York State Teachers Retirement System raised its position in EastGroup Properties by 0.9% during the 1st quarter. New York State Teachers Retirement System now owns 53,630 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $9,447,000 after purchasing an additional 500 shares during the last quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. raised its position in EastGroup Properties by 211.5% during the 1st quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 4,237 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $748,000 after purchasing an additional 2,877 shares during the last quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. raised its position in EastGroup Properties by 31.9% during the 1st quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. now owns 447 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $79,000 after purchasing an additional 108 shares during the last quarter. OneDigital Investment Advisors LLC bought a new position in EastGroup Properties during the 1st quarter valued at approximately $216,000. Finally, Envestnet Asset Management Inc. raised its position in EastGroup Properties by 5.8% during the 1st quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 159,641 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $28,121,000 after purchasing an additional 8,701 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 92.14% of the company’s stock.

EastGroup Properties Stock Performance

EastGroup Properties stock opened at $161.71 on Thursday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.16, a current ratio of 0.16 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.43. The company has a market capitalization of $8.62 billion, a P/E ratio of 34.93, a PEG ratio of 3.34 and a beta of 0.98. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $168.08 and its 200 day moving average is $169.72. EastGroup Properties, Inc. has a twelve month low of $137.67 and a twelve month high of $192.21.

EastGroup Properties (NYSE:EGP) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 23rd. The real estate investment trust reported $2.21 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.20 by $0.01. The company had revenue of $177.29 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $175.80 million. EastGroup Properties had a return on equity of 7.29% and a net margin of 34.85%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 11.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $2.05 EPS. On average, equities research analysts predict that EastGroup Properties, Inc. will post 8.94 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

EastGroup Properties Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, July 15th. Shareholders of record on Monday, June 30th were paid a dividend of $1.40 per share. This represents a $5.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.5%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, June 30th. EastGroup Properties’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 120.95%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

EGP has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. Robert W. Baird lowered their price target on EastGroup Properties from $194.00 to $190.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, May 7th. Evercore ISI upped their target price on EastGroup Properties from $179.00 to $180.00 and gave the stock an “in-line” rating in a report on Thursday, April 24th. Barclays reduced their target price on EastGroup Properties from $193.00 to $182.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, April 30th. Raymond James Financial reiterated a “strong-buy” rating on shares of EastGroup Properties in a report on Wednesday, May 7th. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada reduced their target price on EastGroup Properties from $183.00 to $182.00 and set a “sector perform” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, July 29th. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $189.31.

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.