Easterly Government Properties (NYSE:DEA) Reaches New 1-Year Low on Analyst Downgrade

Easterly Government Properties, Inc. (NYSE:DEA) reached a new 52-week low on Tuesday after Royal Bank of Canada lowered their price target on the stock from $12.00 to $11.00. Royal Bank of Canada currently has an underperform rating on the stock. Easterly Government Properties traded as low as $10.38 and last traded at $10.48, with a volume of 1507777 shares. The stock had previously closed at $10.77.

A number of other equities analysts have also recently weighed in on the company. Truist Financial lowered their price target on Easterly Government Properties from $14.00 to $13.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a report on Friday, December 6th. StockNews.com upgraded Easterly Government Properties from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, March 4th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group decreased their target price on Easterly Government Properties from $15.00 to $12.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, January 2nd.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CEO Darrell W. Crate bought 10,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, December 23rd. The shares were purchased at an average price of $10.91 per share, with a total value of $109,100.00. Following the purchase, the chief executive officer now owns 171,479 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,870,835.89. The trade was a 6.19 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. 8.10% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Easterly Government Properties

Several hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of DEA. Schonfeld Strategic Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Easterly Government Properties in the 4th quarter valued at about $10,394,000. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. raised its position in Easterly Government Properties by 74.6% in the 4th quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 1,861,478 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $21,146,000 after purchasing an additional 795,058 shares in the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. raised its position in Easterly Government Properties by 48.7% in the 4th quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 2,056,248 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $23,359,000 after purchasing an additional 673,270 shares in the last quarter. Two Sigma Investments LP raised its position in Easterly Government Properties by 276.8% in the 4th quarter. Two Sigma Investments LP now owns 838,081 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $9,521,000 after purchasing an additional 615,688 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. raised its position in Easterly Government Properties by 196.2% in the 4th quarter. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. now owns 901,102 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $10,237,000 after purchasing an additional 596,924 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 86.51% of the company’s stock.

Easterly Government Properties Stock Down 4.0 %

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.07, a quick ratio of 4.01 and a current ratio of 4.01. The company has a market cap of $1.12 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 57.42 and a beta of 0.73. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $11.16 and a 200-day simple moving average of $12.28.

Easterly Government Properties (NYSE:DEA) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 25th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.29 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.07 by $0.22. The company had revenue of $78.25 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $79.49 million. Easterly Government Properties had a return on equity of 1.34% and a net margin of 6.25%. Easterly Government Properties’s revenue for the quarter was up 7.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $0.28 EPS. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Easterly Government Properties, Inc. will post 1.17 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Easterly Government Properties Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 17th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, March 5th will be issued a $0.265 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, March 5th. This represents a $1.06 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 10.26%. Easterly Government Properties’s payout ratio is currently 557.89%.

About Easterly Government Properties

Easterly Government Properties, Inc (NYSE: DEA) is based in Washington, DC, and focuses primarily on the acquisition, development and management of Class A commercial properties that are leased to the U.S. Government. Easterly’s experienced management team brings specialized insight into the strategy and needs of mission-critical U.S.