EastGroup Properties, Inc. (NYSE:EGP) Shares Sold by JPMorgan Chase & Co.

JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut its stake in EastGroup Properties, Inc. (NYSE:EGP) by 1.9% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 1,052,511 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after selling 20,279 shares during the period. JPMorgan Chase & Co. owned 2.13% of EastGroup Properties worth $168,918,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in EGP. Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new position in shares of EastGroup Properties during the fourth quarter worth about $116,756,000. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. increased its stake in shares of EastGroup Properties by 210.6% in the fourth quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. now owns 707,732 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $113,584,000 after purchasing an additional 479,873 shares during the period. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC raised its holdings in shares of EastGroup Properties by 355.1% during the third quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 391,594 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $73,158,000 after buying an additional 305,555 shares during the last quarter. Boston Partners boosted its position in shares of EastGroup Properties by 34.1% during the fourth quarter. Boston Partners now owns 1,056,232 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $169,533,000 after buying an additional 268,359 shares during the period. Finally, Vaughan Nelson Investment Management L.P. grew its holdings in EastGroup Properties by 50.9% in the 4th quarter. Vaughan Nelson Investment Management L.P. now owns 517,770 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $83,098,000 after buying an additional 174,630 shares in the last quarter. 92.14% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

EGP has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Truist Financial increased their price target on EastGroup Properties from $168.00 to $180.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, February 14th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft started coverage on shares of EastGroup Properties in a research note on Tuesday, January 14th. They set a “buy” rating and a $180.00 target price on the stock. Evercore ISI reaffirmed an “in-line” rating and issued a $185.00 price target (up from $181.00) on shares of EastGroup Properties in a research note on Monday, March 17th. Jefferies Financial Group upgraded shares of EastGroup Properties from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their price objective for the company from $174.00 to $194.00 in a research note on Thursday, January 2nd. Finally, KeyCorp restated a “sector weight” rating on shares of EastGroup Properties in a research report on Tuesday, December 17th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating, eight have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $190.47.

EastGroup Properties Stock Performance

EGP stock opened at $176.06 on Wednesday. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $177.34 and a 200 day simple moving average of $174.31. EastGroup Properties, Inc. has a 52 week low of $155.10 and a 52 week high of $192.61. The stock has a market cap of $9.16 billion, a P/E ratio of 37.86, a P/E/G ratio of 3.35 and a beta of 0.99. 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 posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 6th. The real estate investment trust reported $2.15 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.16 by $0.99. EastGroup Properties had a net margin of 35.57% and a return on equity of 7.89%. Research analysts anticipate that EastGroup Properties, Inc. will post 8.94 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

EastGroup Properties Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 15th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 31st will be issued a dividend of $1.40 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 31st. This represents a $5.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.18%. EastGroup Properties’s dividend payout ratio is 120.43%.

About EastGroup Properties

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.