GF Fund Management CO. LTD. Takes Position in EastGroup Properties, Inc. (NYSE:EGP)

GF Fund Management CO. LTD. purchased a new stake in EastGroup Properties, Inc. (NYSE:EGP) in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund purchased 886 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock, valued at approximately $142,000.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio grew its holdings in shares of EastGroup Properties by 0.7% in the 4th quarter. Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio now owns 103,244 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $16,570,000 after buying an additional 696 shares during the period. Two Sigma Advisers LP boosted its stake in EastGroup Properties by 102.8% in the 4th quarter. Two Sigma Advisers LP now owns 231,000 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $37,073,000 after purchasing an additional 117,100 shares during the period. Two Sigma Investments LP boosted its stake in EastGroup Properties by 1.3% in the 4th quarter. Two Sigma Investments LP now owns 210,452 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $33,775,000 after purchasing an additional 2,612 shares during the period. Tidal Investments LLC boosted its stake in EastGroup Properties by 27.9% in the 4th quarter. Tidal Investments LLC now owns 39,522 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $6,343,000 after purchasing an additional 8,617 shares during the period. Finally, ProShare Advisors LLC boosted its stake in EastGroup Properties by 9.1% in the 4th quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC now owns 2,314 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $371,000 after purchasing an additional 193 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.14% of the company’s stock.

EastGroup Properties Trading Down 0.8%

EastGroup Properties stock opened at $164.69 on Tuesday. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $165.11 and a 200-day moving average of $169.18. EastGroup Properties, Inc. has a one year low of $137.67 and a one year high of $192.61. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.46, a current ratio of 0.12 and a quick ratio of 0.12. The company has a market cap of $8.65 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 35.42, a P/E/G ratio of 3.35 and a beta of 1.05.

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

EastGroup Properties Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, July 15th. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 30th will be issued a $1.40 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, June 30th. This represents a $5.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.40%. EastGroup Properties’s payout ratio is 122.54%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts recently weighed in on EGP shares. Royal Bank of Canada reduced their target price on shares of EastGroup Properties from $189.00 to $183.00 and set a “sector perform” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, April 29th. Robert W. Baird reduced their target price on shares of EastGroup Properties from $194.00 to $190.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, May 7th. Piper Sandler reduced their target price on shares of EastGroup Properties from $175.00 to $172.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, April 15th. Barclays reduced their target price on shares of EastGroup Properties from $193.00 to $182.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, April 30th. Finally, Evercore ISI upped their target price on shares of EastGroup Properties from $179.00 to $180.00 and gave the stock an “in-line” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 24th. Eight analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, EastGroup Properties currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $186.60.

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.