RIDGELAND, Miss. (AP) _ EastGroup Properties Inc. (EGP) on Tuesday reported a key measure of profitability in its third quarter. The results beat Wall Street expectations.
The Ridgeland, Mississippi-based real estate investment trust said it had funds from operations of $53.6 million, or $1.36 per share, in the period.
The average estimate of seven analysts surveyed by Zacks Investment Research was for funds from operations of $1.33 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 $24.4 million, or 62 cents per share.
The real estate investment trust posted revenue of $92 million in the period, which also beat Street forecasts. Four analysts surveyed by Zacks expected $89.6 million.
For the current quarter ending in December, EastGroup Properties expects its per-share funds from operations to range from $1.33 to $1.37.
The company expects full-year funds from operations in the range of $5.33 to $5.37 per share.
The company's shares have increased roughly 1% since the beginning of the year. In the final minutes of trading on Tuesday, shares hit $133.51, increasing slightly in the last 12 months.
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This story was generated by Automated Insights (http://automatedinsights.com/ap) using data from Zacks Investment Research. Access a Zacks stock report on EGP at https://www.zacks.com/ap/EGP