Wedbush Reduces Earnings Estimates for EastGroup Properties

EastGroup Properties, Inc. (NYSE:EGP) – Equities research analysts at Wedbush reduced their FY2025 earnings estimates for shares of EastGroup Properties in a report released on Monday, February 10th. Wedbush analyst R. Anderson now forecasts that the real estate investment trust will post earnings of $8.95 per share for the year, down from their previous forecast of $9.05. Wedbush has a “Outperform” rating and a $209.00 price objective on the stock. The consensus estimate for EastGroup Properties’ current full-year earnings is $8.94 per share.

Several other analysts have also recently weighed in on the company. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price target on EastGroup Properties from $214.00 to $199.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Monday, November 4th. StockNews.com raised EastGroup Properties from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday. Raymond James upgraded shares of EastGroup Properties from an “outperform” rating to a “strong-buy” rating and increased their price objective for the stock from $185.00 to $200.00 in a research note on Wednesday, December 11th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft started coverage on shares of EastGroup Properties in a research note on Tuesday, January 14th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $180.00 price objective on the stock. Finally, 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. Eight investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nine have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, EastGroup Properties currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $190.88.

EastGroup Properties Stock Performance

EGP opened at $178.83 on Thursday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.08, a current ratio of 0.08 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.57. The stock has a market cap of $8.85 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 38.46, a PEG ratio of 3.23 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 business has a 50 day moving average of $166.07 and a 200-day moving average of $175.49.

EastGroup Properties (NYSE:EGP) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 6th. The real estate investment trust reported $2.15 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.16 by $0.99. EastGroup Properties had a return on equity of 8.27% and a net margin of 35.57%.

Institutional Trading of EastGroup Properties

Institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its position in shares of EastGroup Properties by 1.0% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 6,990,950 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $1,121,978,000 after acquiring an additional 72,199 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp grew its stake in EastGroup Properties by 2.1% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 2,427,405 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $456,872,000 after purchasing an additional 49,268 shares during the period. FMR LLC increased its holdings in EastGroup Properties by 67.9% in the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 1,558,083 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $291,081,000 after purchasing an additional 629,827 shares in the last quarter. Boston Partners increased its holdings in EastGroup Properties by 34.1% in the fourth quarter. Boston Partners now owns 1,056,232 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $169,533,000 after purchasing an additional 268,359 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in EastGroup Properties by 1.7% in the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 914,532 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $146,816,000 after buying an additional 15,313 shares during the period. 92.14% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

EastGroup Properties Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, January 15th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, December 31st were paid a $1.40 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, December 31st. This represents a $5.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.13%. EastGroup Properties’s payout ratio is 120.43%.

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.