EastGroup Properties (NYSE:EGP) Shares Break Below Two Hundred Day Moving Average – Here’s Why

EastGroup Properties, Inc. (NYSE:EGP) shares crossed below its two hundred day moving average during trading on Thursday. The stock has a two hundred day moving average of $198.30 and traded as low as $193.82. EastGroup Properties shares last traded at $194.2590, with a volume of 712,425 shares trading hands.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have commented on EGP. Royal Bank Of Canada boosted their target price on EastGroup Properties from $208.00 to $220.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Monday, August 3rd. Robert W. Baird set a $221.00 price target on EastGroup Properties in a research note on Friday, July 31st. Cantor Fitzgerald cut their price target on EastGroup Properties from $235.00 to $220.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, October 26th. KeyCorp lifted their price target on EastGroup Properties from $210.00 to $220.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, July 13th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price target on EastGroup Properties from $231.00 to $220.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, October 29th. Twelve equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, EastGroup Properties has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $219.94.

EastGroup Properties Stock Down 3.4%

The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $198.57 and its 200 day simple moving average is $198.30. The company has a market capitalization of $10.45 billion, a P/E ratio of 32.93, a P/E/G ratio of 4.02 and a beta of 0.94.

EastGroup Properties (NYSE:EGP) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 21st. The real estate investment trust reported $1.46 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.43 by ($0.97). The business had revenue of $199.44 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $197.51 million. EastGroup Properties had a net margin of 41.05% and a return on equity of 8.90%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 9.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $2.27 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that EastGroup Properties, Inc. will post 9.64 earnings per share for the current year.

EastGroup Properties Increases Dividend

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

Insider Buying and Selling

In other EastGroup Properties news, CFO Staci Tyler sold 1,600 shares of the stock in a transaction 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 transaction, the chief financial officer directly owned 13,584 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,739,756.96. This represents a 10.54% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. 1.00% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of EastGroup Properties

Large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Squarepoint Ops LLC increased its holdings in shares of EastGroup Properties by 415.1% during the 2nd quarter. Squarepoint Ops LLC now owns 30,301 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $6,137,000 after acquiring an additional 24,419 shares during the last quarter. California State Teachers Retirement System raised its stake in shares of EastGroup Properties by 22.7% in the 1st quarter. California State Teachers Retirement System now owns 62,095 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $11,493,000 after acquiring an additional 11,504 shares in the last quarter. B. Metzler seel. Sohn & Co. AG acquired a new stake in EastGroup Properties in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $3,753,000. Bank of America Corp DE acquired a new stake in EastGroup Properties in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $94,505,000. Finally, SummitTX Capital L.P. lifted its holdings in EastGroup Properties by 28.3% in the 1st quarter. SummitTX Capital L.P. now owns 21,577 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $3,994,000 after purchasing an additional 4,758 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 92.14% of the company’s stock.

EastGroup Properties Company Profile

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.