New York State Common Retirement Fund Lowers Holdings in Easterly Government Properties, Inc. (NYSE:DEA)

New York State Common Retirement Fund reduced its stake in shares of Easterly Government Properties, Inc. (NYSE:DEA) by 51.9% during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 505,354 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after selling 544,893 shares during the period. New York State Common Retirement Fund’s holdings in Easterly Government Properties were worth $5,741,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. boosted its holdings in shares of Easterly Government Properties by 35.6% in the 3rd quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 3,798 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $51,000 after purchasing an additional 997 shares during the last quarter. KBC Group NV boosted its holdings in Easterly Government Properties by 62.4% in the third quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 5,242 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $71,000 after acquiring an additional 2,014 shares during the last quarter. Quantinno Capital Management LP purchased a new stake in Easterly Government Properties during the third quarter valued at about $142,000. Glenmede Trust Co. NA raised its holdings in shares of Easterly Government Properties by 29.3% in the 3rd quarter. Glenmede Trust Co. NA now owns 15,858 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $215,000 after purchasing an additional 3,592 shares during the period. Finally, abrdn plc lifted its stake in shares of Easterly Government Properties by 10.6% in the 3rd quarter. abrdn plc now owns 19,047 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $259,000 after purchasing an additional 1,818 shares in the last quarter. 86.51% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Easterly Government Properties Price Performance

Shares of DEA stock opened at $11.31 on Friday. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $11.18 and a 200-day simple moving average of $12.43. The company has a market capitalization of $1.19 billion, a PE ratio of 62.81 and a beta of 0.70. Easterly Government Properties, Inc. has a twelve month low of $10.45 and a twelve month high of $14.52. The company has a current ratio of 4.01, a quick ratio of 4.01 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.07.

Easterly Government Properties (NYSE:DEA) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 25th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.29 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.07 by $0.22. Easterly Government Properties had a net margin of 6.25% and a return on equity of 1.34%. The company had revenue of $78.25 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $79.49 million. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $0.28 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 7.8% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research 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. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, March 5th will be issued a dividend of $0.265 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, March 5th. This represents a $1.06 annualized dividend and a yield of 9.38%. Easterly Government Properties’s dividend payout ratio is presently 588.89%.

Insider Activity

In related news, CEO Darrell W. Crate purchased 10,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, December 23rd. The stock was acquired at an average price of $10.91 per share, for a total transaction of $109,100.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the chief executive officer now owns 171,479 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,870,835.89. This represents a 6.19 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Company insiders own 8.10% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have weighed in on DEA. Jefferies Financial Group reduced their price target on shares of Easterly Government Properties from $15.00 to $12.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, January 2nd. 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. Finally, StockNews.com cut Easterly Government Properties from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Monday.

Easterly Government Properties Profile

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.