EastGroup Properties (NYSE:EGP) Downgraded by StockNews.com to “Sell”

EastGroup Properties (NYSE:EGP) was downgraded by StockNews.com from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note issued to investors on Monday.

Several other brokerages have also commented on EGP. Raymond James raised shares of EastGroup Properties from an “outperform” rating to a “strong-buy” rating and increased their price objective for the company from $185.00 to $200.00 in a research report on Wednesday, December 11th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft started coverage on shares of EastGroup Properties in a report on Tuesday, January 14th. They set a “buy” rating and a $180.00 price objective on the stock. Jefferies Financial Group upgraded EastGroup Properties from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their target price for the stock from $174.00 to $194.00 in a research note on Thursday, January 2nd. Truist Financial boosted their price target on EastGroup Properties from $168.00 to $180.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, February 14th. Finally, KeyCorp restated a “sector weight” rating on shares of EastGroup Properties in a research note on Tuesday, December 17th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating, eight have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $190.47.

EastGroup Properties Trading Down 0.2 %

NYSE:EGP traded down $0.43 during mid-day trading on Monday, hitting $176.01. 603,610 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 345,371. EastGroup Properties has a 52 week low of $155.10 and a 52 week high of $192.61. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $177.21 and its two-hundred day moving average is $174.39. The stock has a market capitalization of $9.16 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 37.85, a PEG ratio of 3.35 and a beta of 0.99. The company has a quick ratio of 0.12, a current ratio of 0.12 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.46.

EastGroup Properties (NYSE:EGP) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, February 6th. The real estate investment trust reported $2.15 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.16 by $0.99. EastGroup Properties had a return on equity of 7.89% and a net margin of 35.57%. On average, equities research analysts predict that EastGroup Properties will post 8.94 earnings per share for the current year.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several large investors have recently made changes to their positions in EGP. Crowley Wealth Management Inc. purchased a new position in EastGroup Properties during the fourth quarter valued at $29,000. Canton Hathaway LLC purchased a new position in EastGroup Properties in the 4th quarter valued at about $30,000. Thurston Springer Miller Herd & Titak Inc. increased its stake in EastGroup Properties by 503.3% during the 4th quarter. Thurston Springer Miller Herd & Titak Inc. now owns 362 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $58,000 after buying an additional 302 shares in the last quarter. Principal Securities Inc. raised its stake in EastGroup Properties by 18.5% in the 4th quarter. Principal Securities Inc. now owns 538 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $86,000 after purchasing an additional 84 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Versant Capital Management Inc raised its position in shares of EastGroup Properties by 18.7% in the fourth quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 602 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $97,000 after buying an additional 95 shares during the last quarter. 92.14% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.