Moody's rates EastGroup Baa2

Moody's Investors Service said it assigned a Baa2 issuer rating to EastGroup Properties, Inc. The outlook is stable.

The agency said the Baa2 rating reflects EastGroup's well-leased portfolio of industrial properties diversified across the Sunbelt region and its conservative credit profile, which includes 44.2% effective leverage and a 6.4 times net debt-to-EBITDA ratio.

Counterbalancing these strengths, EastGroup's secured debt was high for the rating category at 34.3% of gross book asset value at Sep. 30, Moody's said; however, the REIT is anticipating shifting to an unsecured funding strategy going forward, thereby bringing its secured leverage down significantly and growing its unencumbered portfolio.

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