Lighthouse Investment Partners LLC Acquires New Shares in EastGroup Properties, Inc. $EGP

Lighthouse Investment Partners LLC acquired a new position in EastGroup Properties, Inc. (NYSE:EGP) in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor acquired 48,157 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock, valued at approximately $8,151,000. Lighthouse Investment Partners LLC owned 0.09% of EastGroup Properties as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its stake in shares of EastGroup Properties by 0.6% in the 3rd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 7,350,473 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $1,244,141,000 after purchasing an additional 43,633 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp increased its position in shares of EastGroup Properties by 2.5% during the 2nd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 2,667,793 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $449,491,000 after purchasing an additional 65,060 shares during the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. increased its position in shares of EastGroup Properties by 43.5% during the 3rd quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 1,985,543 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $336,076,000 after purchasing an additional 602,253 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in EastGroup Properties in the 2nd quarter valued at about $252,405,000. Finally, Boston Partners raised its holdings in EastGroup Properties by 2.1% in the 3rd quarter. Boston Partners now owns 1,204,211 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $203,834,000 after buying an additional 25,055 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.14% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages have weighed in on EGP. Piper Sandler increased their target price on shares of EastGroup Properties from $220.00 to $230.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, February 9th. Royal Bank Of Canada boosted their price target on shares of EastGroup Properties from $183.00 to $195.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 18th. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of EastGroup Properties from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, March 7th. Barclays raised shares of EastGroup Properties from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 4th. Finally, Citigroup lifted their target price on shares of EastGroup Properties from $210.00 to $220.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 11th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, ten have assigned a Buy rating and five have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $200.18.

EastGroup Properties Stock Performance

NYSE EGP opened at $187.66 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.47, a current ratio of 0.01 and a quick ratio of 0.01. The company has a market cap of $10.01 billion, a P/E ratio of 38.53, a P/E/G ratio of 3.05 and a beta of 1.10. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $187.33 and a two-hundred day moving average of $179.44. EastGroup Properties, Inc. has a 1-year low of $137.67 and a 1-year high of $197.95.

EastGroup Properties Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 15th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, March 31st will be paid a $1.55 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, March 31st. This represents a $6.20 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.3%. EastGroup Properties’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 127.31%.

About EastGroup Properties

EastGroup Properties, Inc (NYSE: EGP) is a real estate investment trust specializing in the ownership, development and management of industrial properties. Focused primarily on distribution-oriented facilities, the company’s portfolio consists of modern warehouse and light manufacturing buildings located in high-growth Sunbelt markets. EastGroup concentrates on delivering strategic logistics solutions to customers requiring proximity to transportation hubs and major population centers across the southern United States.

Since its founding in 1969, EastGroup has pursued a disciplined growth strategy that combines property development, targeted acquisitions and hands-on asset management.