Voya Investment Management LLC Cuts Stake in EastGroup Properties, Inc. (NYSE:EGP)

Voya Investment Management LLC cut its holdings in shares of EastGroup Properties, Inc. (NYSE:EGP) by 4.9% during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 17,796 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after selling 919 shares during the quarter. Voya Investment Management LLC’s holdings in EastGroup Properties were worth $2,856,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in EGP. Franklin Resources Inc. raised its position in EastGroup Properties by 337.0% in the 3rd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 49,097 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $8,728,000 after purchasing an additional 37,863 shares during the period. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC increased its holdings in shares of EastGroup Properties by 20.4% in the fourth quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 1,625 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $261,000 after buying an additional 275 shares during the period. Bank of New York Mellon Corp lifted its stake in shares of EastGroup Properties by 5.5% in the 4th quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 452,429 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $72,610,000 after acquiring an additional 23,626 shares during the last quarter. BankPlus Trust Department purchased a new stake in EastGroup Properties during the 4th quarter valued at about $1,871,000. Finally, Nordea Investment Management AB grew its position in EastGroup Properties by 6.1% during the 4th quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 72,392 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $11,667,000 after acquiring an additional 4,176 shares during the last quarter. 92.14% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts have weighed in on EGP shares. Robert W. Baird boosted their price objective on EastGroup Properties from $192.00 to $194.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 19th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft initiated coverage on shares of EastGroup Properties in a research report on Tuesday, January 14th. They set a “buy” rating and a $180.00 price target for the company. Piper Sandler decreased their price objective on shares of EastGroup Properties from $175.00 to $172.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, April 15th. Raymond James set a $190.00 target price on shares of EastGroup Properties and gave the stock a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Monday, April 14th. Finally, Evercore ISI boosted their price target on EastGroup Properties from $179.00 to $180.00 and gave the company an “in-line” rating in a report on Thursday, April 24th. Eight equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $187.20.

EastGroup Properties Trading Up 1.8 %

NYSE EGP opened at $167.04 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $8.77 billion, a PE ratio of 35.92, a P/E/G ratio of 3.35 and a beta of 0.94. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $169.44 and its 200 day moving average is $170.21. EastGroup Properties, Inc. has a twelve month low of $137.67 and a twelve month high of $192.61. The company has a quick ratio of 0.12, a current ratio of 0.12 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.46.

EastGroup Properties (NYSE:EGP) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, April 23rd. The real estate investment trust reported $2.12 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.11 by $0.01. EastGroup Properties had a net margin of 35.57% and a return on equity of 7.89%. The firm had revenue of $174.45 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $169.67 million. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $1.98 EPS. The company’s revenue was up 13.1% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts forecast that EastGroup Properties, Inc. will post 8.94 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

EastGroup Properties Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, April 15th. Investors of record on Monday, March 31st were paid a $1.40 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, March 31st. This represents a $5.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.35%. EastGroup Properties’s payout ratio is currently 122.54%.

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.