Aew Capital Management L P Purchases 3,920 Shares of EastGroup Properties, Inc. (NYSE:EGP)

Aew Capital Management L P grew its position in shares of EastGroup Properties, Inc. (NYSE:EGP) by 5.9% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 70,739 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after acquiring an additional 3,920 shares during the period. Aew Capital Management L P’s holdings in EastGroup Properties were worth $11,353,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. State Street Corp raised its holdings in EastGroup Properties by 2.1% in 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 in the last quarter. FMR LLC grew its position in shares of EastGroup Properties by 67.9% in the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 1,558,083 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $291,081,000 after buying an additional 629,827 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its stake in shares of EastGroup Properties by 1.2% in the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 899,219 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $168,032,000 after acquiring an additional 10,435 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its position in EastGroup Properties by 3.6% during the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 639,800 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $119,527,000 after acquiring an additional 22,328 shares during the period. Finally, Vaughan Nelson Investment Management L.P. boosted its stake in EastGroup Properties by 50.9% during the fourth quarter. Vaughan Nelson Investment Management L.P. now owns 517,770 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $83,098,000 after acquiring an additional 174,630 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 92.14% of the company’s stock.

EastGroup Properties Stock Up 1.7 %

EastGroup Properties stock opened at $183.10 on Friday. EastGroup Properties, Inc. has a one year low of $155.10 and a one year high of $192.61. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $169.10 and a 200 day moving average of $175.26. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.46, a quick ratio of 0.12 and a current ratio of 0.12. The stock has a market cap of $9.53 billion, a PE ratio of 39.38, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.35 and a beta of 1.00.

EastGroup Properties (NYSE:EGP) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 6th. The real estate investment trust reported $2.15 earnings per share 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 7.89%. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that EastGroup Properties, Inc. will post 8.94 EPS for the current year.

EastGroup Properties Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, January 15th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, December 31st were paid a dividend of $1.40 per share. This represents a $5.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.06%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, December 31st. EastGroup Properties’s dividend payout ratio is presently 120.43%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts have weighed in on EGP shares. Morgan Stanley decreased their target price on shares of EastGroup Properties from $186.00 to $180.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, December 30th. StockNews.com raised EastGroup Properties from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, February 10th. Jefferies Financial Group upgraded EastGroup Properties from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their price objective for the company from $174.00 to $194.00 in a research note on Thursday, January 2nd. Robert W. Baird increased their target price on EastGroup Properties from $192.00 to $194.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 19th. Finally, KeyCorp reaffirmed a “sector weight” rating on shares of EastGroup Properties in a research report on Tuesday, December 17th. Eight investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nine have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $191.65.

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.