EastGroup Properties, Inc. (EGP) to Issue Quarterly Dividend of $1.40 on July 15th

EastGroup Properties, Inc. (NYSE:EGP) announced a quarterly dividend on Thursday, May 22nd, RTT News reports. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 30th will be paid a dividend of 1.40 per share by the real estate investment trust on Tuesday, July 15th. This represents a $5.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.40%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, June 30th.

EastGroup Properties has increased its dividend by an average of 15.3% annually over the last three years and has increased its dividend every year for the last 4 years. EastGroup Properties has a payout ratio of 105.3% indicating that the company cannot currently cover its dividend with earnings alone and is relying on its balance sheet to cover its dividend payments. Analysts expect EastGroup Properties to earn $9.73 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $5.60 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 57.6%.

EastGroup Properties Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:EGP opened at $164.69 on Friday. EastGroup Properties has a one year low of $137.67 and a one year high of $192.61. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $165.40 and a 200-day moving average of $169.33. The company has a market capitalization of $8.65 billion, a PE ratio of 35.42, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.35 and a beta of 1.05. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.46, a quick ratio of 0.12 and a current ratio of 0.12.

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

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts have recently commented on the company. Piper Sandler cut their price objective on EastGroup Properties from $175.00 to $172.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, April 15th. Royal Bank of Canada cut their price objective on EastGroup Properties from $189.00 to $183.00 and set a “sector perform” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, April 29th. Evercore ISI increased their target price on EastGroup Properties from $179.00 to $180.00 and gave the company an “in-line” rating in a report on Thursday, April 24th. Wall Street Zen upgraded EastGroup Properties from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Sunday, April 27th. Finally, Barclays reduced their target price on EastGroup Properties from $193.00 to $182.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, April 30th. Eight 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 company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, EastGroup Properties presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $186.60.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On EastGroup Properties

Hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Jones Financial Companies Lllp increased its stake in shares of EastGroup Properties by 18,900.0% in the first quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp now owns 950 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $167,000 after acquiring an additional 945 shares during the last quarter. Focus Partners Wealth increased its stake in shares of EastGroup Properties by 2.2% in the first quarter. Focus Partners Wealth now owns 6,103 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $1,075,000 after acquiring an additional 130 shares during the last quarter. Jane Street Group LLC increased its stake in shares of EastGroup Properties by 309.8% in the first quarter. Jane Street Group LLC now owns 15,878 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $2,797,000 after acquiring an additional 12,003 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Goldman Sachs Group Inc. increased its stake in shares of EastGroup Properties by 28.0% in the first quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 190,144 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $33,494,000 after acquiring an additional 41,538 shares during the last quarter. 92.14% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.