BankPlus Trust Department Makes New $1.87 Million Investment in EastGroup Properties, Inc. (NYSE:EGP)

BankPlus Trust Department purchased a new stake in shares of EastGroup Properties, Inc. (NYSE:EGP) in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor purchased 11,660 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock, valued at approximately $1,871,000.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in EGP. Cerity Partners LLC grew its position in EastGroup Properties by 35.6% during the third quarter. Cerity Partners LLC now owns 13,624 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $2,545,000 after buying an additional 3,574 shares during the period. Franklin Resources Inc. grew its position in shares of EastGroup Properties by 337.0% during the 3rd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 49,097 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $8,728,000 after acquiring an additional 37,863 shares during the period. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC grew its position in shares of EastGroup Properties by 20.4% during the 4th quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 1,625 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $261,000 after acquiring an additional 275 shares during the period. Nordea Investment Management AB lifted its position in EastGroup Properties by 6.1% during the fourth quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 72,392 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $11,667,000 after purchasing an additional 4,176 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Creative Planning increased its position in EastGroup Properties by 4.8% in the third quarter. Creative Planning now owns 2,555 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $477,000 after buying an additional 117 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.14% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on EGP. Raymond James upgraded EastGroup Properties from an “outperform” rating to a “strong-buy” rating and boosted their price objective for the company from $185.00 to $200.00 in a research note on Wednesday, December 11th. KeyCorp reissued a “sector weight” rating on shares of EastGroup Properties in a research note on Tuesday, December 17th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft initiated coverage on EastGroup Properties in a research note on Tuesday, January 14th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $180.00 price target for the company. Robert W. Baird lifted their price objective on shares of EastGroup Properties from $192.00 to $194.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 19th. Finally, Truist Financial boosted their target price on shares of EastGroup Properties from $168.00 to $180.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, February 14th. Eight research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nine have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $191.65.

EastGroup Properties Price Performance

Shares of EGP stock opened at $179.35 on Monday. EastGroup Properties, Inc. has a twelve month low of $155.10 and a twelve month high of $192.61. 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 stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $167.39 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $175.18. The stock has a market capitalization of $9.33 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 38.57, a P/E/G ratio of 3.35 and a beta of 1.00.

EastGroup Properties (NYSE:EGP) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, February 6th. The real estate investment trust reported $2.15 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping 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%. On average, analysts predict that EastGroup Properties, Inc. will post 8.94 EPS for the current fiscal year.

EastGroup Properties Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, January 15th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, December 31st were issued a dividend of $1.40 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, December 31st. This represents a $5.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.12%. EastGroup Properties’s dividend payout ratio is currently 120.43%.

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.