WCM Investment Management LLC Lowers Stake in EastGroup Properties, Inc. (NYSE:EGP)

WCM Investment Management LLC lessened its holdings in EastGroup Properties, Inc. (NYSE:EGP) by 0.8% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 96,495 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after selling 767 shares during the period. WCM Investment Management LLC’s holdings in EastGroup Properties were worth $15,548,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of EGP. Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd increased its position in shares of EastGroup Properties by 6.7% in the fourth quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd now owns 12,187 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $1,956,000 after buying an additional 760 shares in the last quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. grew its stake in EastGroup Properties by 1.3% in the 4th quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. now owns 53,632 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $8,607,000 after acquiring an additional 706 shares during the period. State of Alaska Department of Revenue increased its holdings in EastGroup Properties by 2.4% in the 4th quarter. State of Alaska Department of Revenue now owns 29,333 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $4,706,000 after acquiring an additional 684 shares in the last quarter. Retirement Systems of Alabama raised its position in EastGroup Properties by 1.7% during the fourth quarter. Retirement Systems of Alabama now owns 60,097 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $9,645,000 after acquiring an additional 998 shares during the period. Finally, abrdn plc lifted its holdings in EastGroup Properties by 58.0% during the fourth quarter. abrdn plc now owns 15,662 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $2,524,000 after purchasing an additional 5,749 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.14% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

EGP has been the subject of a number of research reports. Royal Bank of Canada reissued a “sector perform” rating and set a $186.00 target price on shares of EastGroup Properties in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. KeyCorp reissued a “sector weight” rating on shares of EastGroup Properties in a report on Tuesday, December 17th. Morgan Stanley decreased their target price on 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. StockNews.com cut EastGroup Properties from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Monday, October 28th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price objective on EastGroup Properties from $214.00 to $199.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, November 4th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned 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, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $190.88.

EastGroup Properties Price Performance

EGP stock opened at $174.79 on Monday. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $165.59 and its 200 day moving average price is $175.58. EastGroup Properties, Inc. has a 12-month low of $155.10 and a 12-month high of $192.61. The company has a market capitalization of $8.65 billion, a PE ratio of 37.59, a P/E/G ratio of 3.23 and a beta of 1.00. The company has a current ratio of 0.08, a quick ratio of 0.08 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.57.

EastGroup Properties (NYSE:EGP) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 6th. The real estate investment trust reported $2.15 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 8.27%. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that EastGroup Properties, Inc. will post 8.94 EPS for the current year.

EastGroup Properties Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, January 15th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, December 31st were given a $1.40 dividend. This represents a $5.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.20%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, December 31st. 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.