Aster Capital Management DIFC Ltd Buys New Stake in EastGroup Properties, Inc. (NYSE:EGP)

Aster Capital Management DIFC Ltd purchased a new position in shares of EastGroup Properties, Inc. (NYSE:EGP) during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm purchased 621 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock, valued at approximately $100,000.

Other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Russell Investments Group Ltd. grew its holdings in EastGroup Properties by 3.6% during the fourth quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. now owns 259,403 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $41,632,000 after acquiring an additional 9,039 shares during the period. Wedbush Securities Inc. purchased a new stake in EastGroup Properties in the 4th quarter worth approximately $251,000. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. grew its stake in shares of EastGroup Properties by 0.4% during the 4th quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 150,940 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $24,224,000 after purchasing an additional 536 shares during the period. Resona Asset Management Co. Ltd. purchased a new position in shares of EastGroup Properties during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $3,173,000. Finally, Centersquare Investment Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of EastGroup Properties by 24.9% in the 4th quarter. Centersquare Investment Management LLC now owns 461,533 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $74,071,000 after purchasing an additional 91,953 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.14% of the company’s stock.

EastGroup Properties Trading Down 4.9 %

Shares of EGP opened at $144.97 on Wednesday. The company has a current ratio of 0.12, a quick ratio of 0.12 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.46. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $175.88 and a 200 day moving average price of $173.06. EastGroup Properties, Inc. has a 12-month low of $143.42 and a 12-month high of $192.61. The firm has a market capitalization of $7.54 billion, a P/E ratio of 31.18, a P/E/G ratio of 3.35 and a beta of 0.94.

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, beating the consensus estimate of $1.16 by $0.99. EastGroup Properties had a net margin of 35.57% and a return on equity of 7.89%. Sell-side analysts forecast that EastGroup Properties, Inc. will post 8.94 EPS for the current year.

EastGroup Properties Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 15th. Investors of record on Monday, March 31st will be given a dividend of $1.40 per share. This represents a $5.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.86%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 31st. EastGroup Properties’s payout ratio is 120.43%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

EGP has been the topic of several analyst reports. Jefferies Financial Group upgraded shares of EastGroup Properties from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their price target for the company from $174.00 to $194.00 in a research report on Thursday, January 2nd. KeyCorp restated a “sector weight” rating on shares of EastGroup Properties in a research note on Tuesday, December 17th. Evercore ISI reiterated an “in-line” rating and set a $185.00 price target (up previously from $181.00) on shares of EastGroup Properties in a research report on Monday, March 17th. Truist Financial raised their price objective on EastGroup Properties from $168.00 to $180.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, February 14th. Finally, StockNews.com downgraded EastGroup Properties from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Monday, March 31st. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have assigned a hold rating, seven have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, EastGroup Properties has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $189.00.

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.