RIDGELAND, Miss. – RIDGELAND, Miss. (AP) _ EastGroup Properties Inc. (EGP) on Thursday reported a key measure of profitability in its first quarter. The results surpassed Wall Street expectations.
The Ridgeland, Mississippi-based real estate investment trust said it had funds from operations of $40.2 million, or $1.16 per share, in the period.
The average estimate of six analysts surveyed by Zacks Investment Research was for funds from operations of $1.10 per share.
Funds from operations is a closely watched measure in the REIT industry. It takes net income and adds back items such as depreciation and amortization.
The company said it had net income of $28.7 million, or 83 cents per share.
The real estate investment trust posted revenue of $72.2 million in the period, also exceeding Street forecasts. Three analysts surveyed by Zacks expected $71.9 million.
EastGroup Properties expects full-year funds from operations to be $4.51 to $4.61 per share.
The company's shares have declined almost 5 percent since the beginning of the year. In the final minutes of trading on Thursday, shares hit $84.34, a rise of 8 percent in the last 12 months.
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This story was generated by Automated Insights using data from Zacks Investment Research. Access a Zacks stock report on EGP at https://www.zacks.com/ap/EGP
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