Raymond James Financial Inc. Takes $116.76 Million Position in EastGroup Properties, Inc. (NYSE:EGP)

by · The Cerbat Gem

Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of EastGroup Properties, Inc. (NYSE:EGP – Free Report) during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm acquired 727,500 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock, valued at approximately $116,756,000.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of EGP. Canton Hathaway LLC bought a new stake in shares of EastGroup Properties during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $30,000. Thurston Springer Miller Herd & Titak Inc. raised its position in shares of EastGroup Properties by 503.3% during the fourth quarter. Thurston Springer Miller Herd & Titak Inc. now owns 362 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $58,000 after buying an additional 302 shares during the last quarter. Principal Securities Inc. raised its position in shares of EastGroup Properties by 18.5% during the fourth quarter. Principal Securities Inc. now owns 538 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $86,000 after buying an additional 84 shares during the last quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc raised its position in shares of EastGroup Properties by 18.7% during the fourth quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 602 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $97,000 after buying an additional 95 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Quarry LP bought a new stake in EastGroup Properties in the third quarter worth $102,000. Institutional investors own 92.14% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

EGP has been the topic of several research reports. KeyCorp restated a “sector weight” rating on shares of EastGroup Properties in a research report on Tuesday, December 17th. Raymond James upgraded shares of EastGroup Properties from an “outperform” rating to a “strong-buy” rating and boosted their price target for the stock from $185.00 to $200.00 in a research report on Wednesday, December 11th. Morgan Stanley reduced their price target on shares of EastGroup Properties from $186.00 to $180.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, December 30th. Robert W. Baird boosted their price target on shares of EastGroup Properties from $192.00 to $194.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 19th. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded shares of EastGroup Properties from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, February 10th. Eight analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nine have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, EastGroup Properties currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $191.65.

Read Our Latest Analysis on EGP

EastGroup Properties Stock Down 0.6 %

Shares of EGP opened at $184.51 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $9.60 billion, a P/E ratio of 39.68, a P/E/G ratio of 3.35 and a beta of 0.99. EastGroup Properties, Inc. has a 12-month low of $155.10 and a 12-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 firm has a fifty day moving average price of $171.47 and a 200-day moving average price of $175.31.

EastGroup Properties (NYSE:EGP – Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, February 6th. The real estate investment trust reported $2.15 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.16 by $0.99. EastGroup Properties had a net margin of 35.57% and a return on equity of 7.89%. Equities research analysts expect that EastGroup Properties, Inc. will post 8.94 earnings per share for the current year.

EastGroup Properties Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 15th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 31st will be paid a dividend of $1.40 per share. This represents a $5.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.04%. EastGroup Properties’s dividend payout ratio is currently 120.43%.

EastGroup Properties Company Profile

(Free Report)

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.

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