Teachers Retirement System of The State of Kentucky Sells 420 Shares of EastGroup Properties, Inc. (NYSE:EGP)

Teachers Retirement System of The State of Kentucky reduced its position in EastGroup Properties, Inc. (NYSE:EGP) by 2.9% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 13,944 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after selling 420 shares during the quarter. Teachers Retirement System of The State of Kentucky’s holdings in EastGroup Properties were worth $2,605,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Cerity Partners LLC raised its holdings in shares of EastGroup Properties by 35.6% in the 3rd quarter. Cerity Partners LLC now owns 13,624 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $2,545,000 after purchasing an additional 3,574 shares in the last quarter. Ausbil Investment Management Ltd raised its stake in EastGroup Properties by 261.6% in the third quarter. Ausbil Investment Management Ltd now owns 6,737 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $1,259,000 after buying an additional 4,874 shares in the last quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in EastGroup Properties during the third quarter worth $1,223,000. Creative Planning boosted its position in EastGroup Properties by 4.8% during the 3rd quarter. Creative Planning now owns 2,555 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $477,000 after acquiring an additional 117 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Fifth Third Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of EastGroup Properties in the 2nd quarter valued at $244,000. 92.14% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

EGP has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. Morgan Stanley raised their price objective on EastGroup Properties from $158.00 to $186.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 22nd. Evercore ISI boosted their price target on EastGroup Properties from $204.00 to $205.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, October 7th. Raymond James raised shares of EastGroup Properties from an “outperform” rating to a “strong-buy” rating and increased their price objective for the company from $185.00 to $200.00 in a research report on Wednesday, December 11th. Barclays lowered their target price on shares of EastGroup Properties from $198.00 to $193.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, October 10th. Finally, Wedbush reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $209.00 price target on shares of EastGroup Properties in a report on Friday, October 25th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating, eight have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, EastGroup Properties presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $191.80.

EastGroup Properties Price Performance

EastGroup Properties stock opened at $171.25 on Monday. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $174.43 and a 200-day simple moving average of $177.88. 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 firm has a market capitalization of $8.48 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 35.38, a PEG ratio of 2.22 and a beta of 0.99. EastGroup Properties, Inc. 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 data 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 37.19% and a return on equity of 8.56%. The business had revenue of $162.88 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $161.52 million. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $1.95 EPS. The firm’s revenue was up 11.2% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts anticipate that EastGroup Properties, Inc. will post 8.36 EPS for the current fiscal year.

EastGroup Properties Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, January 15th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, December 31st will be paid a $1.40 dividend. This represents a $5.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.27%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, December 31st. EastGroup Properties’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 115.70%.

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.