Investors hope EastGroup Properties (NYSE: EGP) will top analyst estimates once again after beating predictions by $0.01 in the previous quarter. The company will unveil its latest earnings on Thursday. EastGroup Properties focuses on the acquisition, development, and operation of industrial properties in major Sunbelt markets throughout the United States.

What analysts say:

  • Buy, sell, or hold?: Analysts think investors should stand pat on EastGroup Properties with 10 of 15 analysts rating it hold. Analysts don't like EastGroup Properties as much as competitor DCT Industrial Trust overall. Six out of 13 analysts rate DCT Industrial Trust a buy compared to five of 15 for EastGroup Properties. That rating hasn't budged in three months as analysts have remained unchanged in their opinion of the stock.
  • Revenue forecasts: On average, analysts predict $43.9 million in revenue this quarter. That would represent a rise of 1.7% from the year-ago quarter.
  • Wall Street earnings expectations: The average analyst estimate is earnings of $0.74 per share. Estimates range from $0.73 to $0.74.

What our community says:
The majority of CAPS All-Stars see EGP as a good bet, with 68.4% granting it an outperform rating. The majority of the Fools are in agreement with the All Stars as 73.9% give it an outperform rating. Fools have embraced EastGroup Properties, though the message boards have been quiet lately with only 11 posts in the past 30 days. EastGroup Properties' bearish CAPS rating of two out of five stars falls short of the Fool community sentiment.

Management:
EastGroup Properties' income has fallen year over year by an average of 6.9% over the past five quarters. Revenue has fallen for the past three quarters.

Now let's look at how efficient management is at running the business. Traditionally, margins represent the efficiency with which companies capture portions of sales dollars. The following table shows net margins over the past four quarters.

Quarter

Q2

Q1

Q4

Q3

Net Margin

12.7%

11.0%

11.7%

9.3%

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