Short Interest in EastGroup Properties, Inc. (NYSE:EGP) Rises By 7.1%

EastGroup Properties, Inc. (NYSE:EGP) was the recipient of a significant growth in short interest in September. As of September 30th, there was short interest totalling 1,350,000 shares, a growth of 7.1% from the September 15th total of 1,260,000 shares. Based on an average trading volume of 312,500 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 4.3 days.

Analyst Ratings Changes

EGP has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Barclays dropped their price target on EastGroup Properties from $198.00 to $193.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, October 10th. Mizuho upgraded shares of EastGroup Properties from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and lifted their target price for the stock from $175.00 to $200.00 in a research report on Thursday, September 5th. Wedbush increased their price target on shares of EastGroup Properties from $208.00 to $209.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, August 5th. Morgan Stanley raised their price objective on shares of EastGroup Properties from $158.00 to $186.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 22nd. Finally, KeyCorp upped their target price on EastGroup Properties from $178.00 to $198.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 30th. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, EastGroup Properties has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $191.73.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On EastGroup Properties

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its stake in EastGroup Properties by 3.2% during the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 6,863,129 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $1,233,785,000 after acquiring an additional 210,207 shares in the last quarter. Ceredex Value Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of EastGroup Properties during the second quarter worth approximately $35,131,000. Boston Partners raised its stake in shares of EastGroup Properties by 26.1% in the first quarter. Boston Partners now owns 953,736 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $171,399,000 after acquiring an additional 197,427 shares during the last quarter. Zimmer Partners LP boosted its holdings in shares of EastGroup Properties by 465.6% in the 1st quarter. Zimmer Partners LP now owns 200,558 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $36,054,000 after acquiring an additional 165,100 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Millennium Management LLC grew its position in EastGroup Properties by 202.1% during the 2nd quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 188,336 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $32,036,000 after acquiring an additional 125,991 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 92.14% of the company’s stock.

EastGroup Properties Stock Performance

NYSE:EGP opened at $182.15 on Friday. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $184.31 and its 200-day moving average is $175.22. The company has a market cap of $8.77 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 39.51, a PEG ratio of 2.65 and a beta of 0.99. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.60, a quick ratio of 0.21 and a current ratio of 0.21. EastGroup Properties has a 52-week low of $154.75 and a 52-week high of $192.61.

EastGroup Properties (NYSE:EGP) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, July 23rd. The real estate investment trust reported $1.14 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.05 by ($0.91). EastGroup Properties had a net margin of 37.16% and a return on equity of 8.69%. The firm had revenue of $159.09 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $156.70 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $1.89 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was up 13.7% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts anticipate that EastGroup Properties will post 8.32 earnings per share for the current year.

EastGroup Properties Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, October 15th. Stockholders of record on Monday, September 30th were paid a $1.40 dividend. This is a positive change from EastGroup Properties’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.27. This represents a $5.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.07%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, September 30th. EastGroup Properties’s dividend payout ratio is currently 121.48%.

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.