Legacy Wealth Management LLC MS Makes New Investment in EastGroup Properties, Inc. (NYSE:EGP)

Legacy Wealth Management LLC MS acquired a new position in shares of EastGroup Properties, Inc. (NYSE:EGP) in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm acquired 1,582 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock, valued at approximately $296,000.

Several other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Franklin Resources Inc. grew its holdings in EastGroup Properties by 337.0% during the 3rd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 49,097 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $8,728,000 after acquiring an additional 37,863 shares in the last quarter. Tidal Investments LLC lifted its position in shares of EastGroup Properties by 23.2% in the 3rd quarter. Tidal Investments LLC now owns 30,905 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $5,774,000 after buying an additional 5,811 shares during the last quarter. Sanctuary Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of EastGroup Properties by 46.7% in the 3rd quarter. Sanctuary Advisors LLC now owns 7,370 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $1,267,000 after buying an additional 2,347 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its position in shares of EastGroup Properties by 1.2% in the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 899,219 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $168,032,000 after buying an additional 10,435 shares during the last quarter. Finally, M&T Bank Corp lifted its position in shares of EastGroup Properties by 15.5% in the 3rd quarter. M&T Bank Corp now owns 13,414 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $2,506,000 after buying an additional 1,801 shares during the last quarter. 92.14% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts have recently issued reports on EGP shares. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price target on shares of EastGroup Properties from $214.00 to $199.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, November 4th. Raymond James upgraded shares of EastGroup Properties from an “outperform” rating to a “strong-buy” rating and lifted their price objective for the company from $185.00 to $200.00 in a research report on Wednesday. Morgan Stanley lifted their price objective on shares of EastGroup Properties from $158.00 to $186.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 22nd. Barclays cut their price objective on shares of EastGroup Properties from $198.00 to $193.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, October 10th. Finally, StockNews.com downgraded shares of EastGroup Properties from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Monday, October 28th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating, eight have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $191.80.

EastGroup Properties Price Performance

Shares of EGP traded up $1.01 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $170.63. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 33,715 shares, compared to its average volume of 301,032. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $174.60 and a 200 day moving average price of $177.55. The stock has a market capitalization of $8.45 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 35.02, a PEG ratio of 2.22 and a beta of 0.99. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.57, a current ratio of 0.08 and a quick ratio of 0.08. EastGroup Properties, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $155.23 and a fifty-two week high of $192.61.

EastGroup Properties (NYSE:EGP) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 23rd. The real estate investment trust reported $1.13 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.10 by ($0.97). The business had revenue of $162.88 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $161.52 million. EastGroup Properties had a return on equity of 8.56% and a net margin of 37.19%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 11.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $1.95 EPS. On average, research analysts predict that EastGroup Properties, Inc. will post 8.36 EPS for the current fiscal year.

EastGroup Properties Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, January 15th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, December 31st will be paid a $1.40 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, December 31st. This represents a $5.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.28%. EastGroup Properties’s dividend payout ratio is currently 115.70%.

EastGroup Properties 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.