RIDGELAND, Miss. (AP) — RIDGELAND, Miss. (AP) — EastGroup Properties Inc. (EGP) on Wednesday reported a key measure of profitability in its fourth quarter. The results exceeded Wall Street expectations.

The Ridgeland, Mississippi-based real estate investment trust said it had funds from operations of $124.8 million, or $2.34 per share, in the period.

The average estimate of seven analysts surveyed by Zacks Investment Research was for funds from operations of $2.33 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 $67.7 million, or $1.27 per share.

The real estate investment trust, based in Ridgeland, Mississippi, posted revenue of $187.5 million in the period, also surpassing Street forecasts. Six analysts surveyed by Zacks expected $186 million.

For the year, the company reported funds from operations of $474.3 million. Revenue was reported as $721.3 million.

For the current quarter ending in March, EastGroup Properties expects its per-share funds from operations to range from $2.25 to $2.33.

The company expects full-year funds from operations in the range of $9.40 to $9.60 per share.

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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