25,305 Shares in EastGroup Properties, Inc. $EGP Purchased by Moody Aldrich Partners LLC

Moody Aldrich Partners LLC bought a new stake in EastGroup Properties, Inc. (NYSE:EGP) during the third quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor bought 25,305 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock, valued at approximately $4,996,000.

Several other large investors have also modified their holdings of the stock. BlackRock Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of EastGroup Properties during the second quarter worth $1,553,186,000. Principal Financial Group Inc. increased its stake in EastGroup Properties by 1.1% in the 1st quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 2,328,714 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $431,028,000 after buying an additional 24,910 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its stake in EastGroup Properties by 3.5% in the 1st quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 799,996 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $148,070,000 after buying an additional 26,727 shares during the period. Deutsche Bank AG acquired a new position in EastGroup Properties in the 2nd quarter valued at $114,775,000. Finally, Quantinno Capital Management LP increased its stake in EastGroup Properties by 38.8% in the 1st quarter. Quantinno Capital Management LP now owns 501,286 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $92,783,000 after buying an additional 140,166 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.14% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

EGP has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on shares of EastGroup Properties from $221.00 to $232.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, September 1st. Cantor Fitzgerald lowered their target price on shares of EastGroup Properties from $235.00 to $220.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Monday. Robert W. Baird set a $221.00 price target on shares of EastGroup Properties in a research note on Friday, July 31st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upgraded shares of EastGroup Properties from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and set a $231.00 price target on the stock in a research note on Thursday, September 24th. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada increased their price target on shares of EastGroup Properties from $208.00 to $220.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a report on Monday, August 3rd. Twelve analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $221.24.

EastGroup Properties Stock Down 1.3%

NYSE:EGP opened at $194.81 on Thursday. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $198.89 and its 200-day simple moving average is $197.89. The stock has a market cap of $10.48 billion, a PE ratio of 33.02, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.17 and a beta of 1.00. EastGroup Properties, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $172.17 and a fifty-two week high of $226.71.

EastGroup Properties (NYSE:EGP) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 21st. The real estate investment trust reported $1.46 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.43 by ($0.97). The company had revenue of $199.44 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $197.51 million. EastGroup Properties had a return on equity of 8.90% and a net margin of 41.05%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 9.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $2.27 EPS. Equities analysts anticipate that EastGroup Properties, Inc. will post 9.62 earnings per share for the current year.

EastGroup Properties Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, October 15th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, September 30th were issued a $1.75 dividend. This represents a $7.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.6%. This is a boost from EastGroup Properties’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.55. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, September 30th. EastGroup Properties’s dividend payout ratio is 118.64%.

Insider Activity

In other news, CFO Staci Tyler sold 1,600 shares of EastGroup Properties stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, October 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $201.69, for a total transaction of $322,704.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer directly owned 13,584 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,739,756.96. This trade represents a 10.54% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Insiders own 1.00% of the company’s stock.

About EastGroup Properties

EastGroup Properties, Inc (NYSE: EGP) is a self-administered and self-managed real estate investment trust that owns, develops, acquires and operates industrial properties. The company primarily focuses on functional, flexible warehouse and distribution facilities designed to serve local and regional businesses, including light manufacturing, service and last-mile distribution users.

Founded in 1969 and headquartered in Jackson, Mississippi, EastGroup concentrates its portfolio in major Sun Belt markets.