EastGroup Properties, Inc. (NYSE:EGP) Sees Significant Increase in Short Interest

EastGroup Properties, Inc. (NYSE:EGP) was the target of a significant increase in short interest in November. As of November 30th, there was short interest totalling 1,840,000 shares, an increase of 5.1% from the November 15th total of 1,750,000 shares. Based on an average trading volume of 347,500 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 5.3 days.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

EGP has been the subject of several research analyst reports. Wedbush restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $209.00 price target on shares of EastGroup Properties in a research report on Friday, October 25th. Morgan Stanley increased their target price on EastGroup Properties from $158.00 to $186.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, August 22nd. StockNews.com downgraded EastGroup Properties from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Monday, October 28th. Truist Financial dropped their price target on EastGroup Properties from $190.00 to $186.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, November 13th. Finally, Barclays decreased their price objective on EastGroup Properties from $198.00 to $193.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, October 10th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating, eight have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $191.80.

EastGroup Properties Trading Up 1.0 %

NYSE:EGP opened at $171.25 on Monday. The company has a market capitalization of $8.48 billion, a P/E ratio of 35.38, a P/E/G ratio of 2.22 and a beta of 0.99. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $174.43 and its 200 day moving average price is $177.88. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.57, a quick ratio of 0.08 and a current ratio of 0.08. EastGroup Properties has a 52 week low of $155.23 and a 52 week high of $192.61.

EastGroup Properties (NYSE:EGP) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 23rd. The real estate investment trust reported $1.13 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.10 by ($0.97). EastGroup Properties had a return on equity of 8.56% and a net margin of 37.19%. The business had revenue of $162.88 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $161.52 million. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $1.95 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 11.2% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts forecast that EastGroup Properties will post 8.36 EPS for the current fiscal year.

EastGroup Properties Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, January 15th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, December 31st will be given a $1.40 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, December 31st. This represents a $5.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.27%. EastGroup Properties’s dividend payout ratio is currently 115.70%.

Institutional Trading of EastGroup Properties

Large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Gradient Investments LLC bought a new position in shares of EastGroup Properties in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $32,000. V Square Quantitative Management LLC raised its position in shares of EastGroup Properties by 47.7% in the third quarter. V Square Quantitative Management LLC now owns 189 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $35,000 after purchasing an additional 61 shares during the period. Quest Partners LLC lifted its stake in shares of EastGroup Properties by 10,400.0% in the second quarter. Quest Partners LLC now owns 210 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $36,000 after buying an additional 208 shares during the last quarter. Headlands Technologies LLC bought a new stake in shares of EastGroup Properties during the 2nd quarter worth $66,000. Finally, GAMMA Investing LLC grew its stake in EastGroup Properties by 90.7% in the 3rd quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 536 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $100,000 after buying an additional 255 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 92.14% of the company’s stock.

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.