EastGroup Properties, Inc. (NYSE:EGP) to Issue Quarterly Dividend of $1.27

EastGroup Properties, Inc. (NYSE:EGP) declared a quarterly dividend on Friday, March 8th, Wall Street Journal reports. Stockholders of record on Thursday, March 28th will be given a dividend of 1.27 per share by the real estate investment trust on Monday, April 15th. This represents a $5.08 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.84%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, March 27th.

EastGroup Properties has raised its dividend by an average of 17.8% per year over the last three years and has increased its dividend annually for the last 12 consecutive years. EastGroup Properties has a dividend payout ratio of 102.2% indicating that the company cannot currently cover its dividend with earnings alone and is relying on its balance sheet to cover its dividend payments. Equities research analysts expect EastGroup Properties to earn $9.01 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $5.08 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 56.4%.

EastGroup Properties Stock Down 1.0 %

Shares of NYSE EGP opened at $179.11 on Tuesday. The company has a market capitalization of $8.59 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 40.61, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.87 and a beta of 0.93. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.64, a current ratio of 0.28 and a quick ratio of 0.28. The business has a 50-day moving average of $180.34 and a two-hundred day moving average of $175.30. EastGroup Properties has a 1 year low of $154.75 and a 1 year high of $188.85.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

EGP has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. Mizuho cut EastGroup Properties from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $185.00 target price on the stock. in a research report on Tuesday, December 5th. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their price target on EastGroup Properties from $180.00 to $190.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Friday, February 16th. Truist Financial upped their target price on EastGroup Properties from $186.00 to $188.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 20th. Finally, KeyCorp raised their price objective on EastGroup Properties from $188.00 to $198.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, February 12th. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, EastGroup Properties has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $188.83.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other EastGroup Properties news, CFO Brent Wood sold 2,500 shares of EastGroup Properties stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $182.74, for a total value of $456,850.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 102,617 shares in the company, valued at $18,752,230.58. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Insiders own 1.50% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On EastGroup Properties

Hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio raised its holdings in EastGroup Properties by 4.0% during the fourth quarter. Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio now owns 87,210 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $16,007,000 after purchasing an additional 3,353 shares in the last quarter. Legal & General Group Plc raised its holdings in EastGroup Properties by 3.4% during the fourth quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 350,562 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $64,342,000 after purchasing an additional 11,659 shares in the last quarter. Barclays PLC raised its holdings in EastGroup Properties by 67.4% during the fourth quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 63,417 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $11,640,000 after purchasing an additional 25,537 shares in the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its holdings in EastGroup Properties by 1.8% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 6,652,922 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $1,221,077,000 after purchasing an additional 120,746 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Voloridge Investment Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of EastGroup Properties by 36.9% in the fourth quarter. Voloridge Investment Management LLC now owns 109,829 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $20,158,000 after buying an additional 29,579 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 92.14% of the company’s stock.

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.