EastGroup Properties (NYSE:EGP) Given “Sector Perform” Rating at Royal Bank of Canada

EastGroup Properties (NYSE:EGP)‘s stock had its “sector perform” rating restated by Royal Bank of Canada in a note issued to investors on Wednesday, Benzinga reports. They currently have a $186.00 target price on the real estate investment trust’s stock. Royal Bank of Canada’s target price would suggest a potential upside of 6.25% from the company’s previous close.

EGP has been the topic of a number of other reports. Barclays cut their price objective on shares of EastGroup Properties from $198.00 to $193.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, October 10th. Morgan Stanley increased their price target on EastGroup Properties from $158.00 to $186.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 22nd. Wells Fargo & Company upgraded EastGroup Properties from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and boosted their price objective for the company from $179.00 to $214.00 in a research note on Wednesday, August 28th. Mizuho raised shares of EastGroup Properties from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and boosted their price target for the company from $175.00 to $200.00 in a research report on Thursday, September 5th. Finally, KeyCorp raised their price target on EastGroup Properties from $178.00 to $198.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 30th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, EastGroup Properties presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $192.57.

EastGroup Properties Stock Up 0.6 %

NYSE:EGP traded up $1.02 on Wednesday, hitting $175.06. The stock had a trading volume of 47,140 shares, compared to its average volume of 297,403. The company has a quick ratio of 0.21, a current ratio of 0.21 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.60. EastGroup Properties has a 52 week low of $155.23 and a 52 week high of $192.61. The business’s fifty day moving average is $183.77 and its 200 day moving average is $175.48. The company has a market cap of $8.67 billion, a PE ratio of 36.17, a P/E/G ratio of 2.70 and a beta of 0.99.

EastGroup Properties (NYSE:EGP) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 23rd. The real estate investment trust reported $1.13 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.10 by ($0.97). EastGroup Properties had a net margin of 37.16% and a return on equity of 8.69%. The business had revenue of $162.88 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $161.52 million. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $1.95 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 11.2% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts expect that EastGroup Properties will post 8.32 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Trading of EastGroup Properties

Institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Hennion & Walsh Asset Management Inc. boosted its holdings in EastGroup Properties by 10.1% in the first quarter. Hennion & Walsh Asset Management Inc. now owns 3,289 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $591,000 after purchasing an additional 303 shares during the last quarter. State of Michigan Retirement System increased its position in EastGroup Properties by 5.4% in the first quarter. State of Michigan Retirement System now owns 11,727 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $2,108,000 after buying an additional 600 shares in the last quarter. Azzad Asset Management Inc. ADV grew its stake in shares of EastGroup Properties by 4.8% during the 1st quarter. Azzad Asset Management Inc. ADV now owns 2,730 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $491,000 after acquiring an additional 124 shares during the period. State of Alaska Department of Revenue raised its stake in EastGroup Properties by 1.2% during the 1st quarter. State of Alaska Department of Revenue now owns 26,998 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $4,852,000 after acquiring an additional 312 shares during the period. Finally, Van ECK Associates Corp increased its stake in shares of EastGroup Properties by 14.9% in the first quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 18,210 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $3,274,000 after purchasing an additional 2,356 shares in the last quarter. 92.14% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.