EastGroup Properties, Inc. (NYSE:EGP) Short Interest Down 22.6% in January

EastGroup Properties, Inc. (NYSE:EGP) was the target of a large decrease in short interest during the month of January. As of January 15th, there was short interest totalling 1,370,000 shares, a decrease of 22.6% from the December 31st total of 1,770,000 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 333,600 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 4.1 days.

EastGroup Properties Stock Down 0.4 %

EGP opened at $169.61 on Friday. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $165.70 and a 200-day simple moving average of $176.27. The stock has a market capitalization of $8.40 billion, a P/E ratio of 35.04, a P/E/G ratio of 3.13 and a beta of 1.00. EastGroup Properties has a 12 month low of $155.10 and a 12 month high of $192.61. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.57, a current ratio of 0.08 and a quick ratio of 0.08.

EastGroup Properties Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, January 15th. Investors 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 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.30%. EastGroup Properties’s dividend payout ratio is presently 115.70%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages have recently commented on EGP. Raymond James raised EastGroup Properties from an “outperform” rating to a “strong-buy” rating and upped their price target for the company from $185.00 to $200.00 in a research note on Wednesday, December 11th. Royal Bank of Canada restated a “sector perform” rating and set a $186.00 price target on shares of EastGroup Properties in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. Jefferies Financial Group upgraded EastGroup Properties from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their price objective for the company from $174.00 to $194.00 in a report on Thursday, January 2nd. KeyCorp reiterated a “sector weight” rating on shares of EastGroup Properties in a report on Tuesday, December 17th. Finally, Evercore ISI raised their price target on EastGroup Properties from $204.00 to $205.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, October 7th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating, nine have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, EastGroup Properties presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $190.88.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On EastGroup Properties

Several hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of EGP. Millennium Management LLC grew its position in shares of EastGroup Properties by 202.1% in the second quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 188,336 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $32,036,000 after purchasing an additional 125,991 shares during the period. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. lifted its stake in shares of EastGroup Properties by 49.5% during the second quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. now owns 954 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $162,000 after purchasing an additional 316 shares in the last quarter. Sanctuary Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of EastGroup Properties in the second quarter worth about $783,000. Duncan Williams Asset Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of EastGroup Properties in the third quarter worth about $1,551,000. Finally, Handelsbanken Fonder AB lifted its stake in shares of EastGroup Properties by 9.2% in the third quarter. Handelsbanken Fonder AB now owns 173,958 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $32,499,000 after acquiring an additional 14,600 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.14% of the company’s stock.

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.