Easterly Government Properties (NYSE:DEA) Reaches New 12-Month Low After Analyst Downgrade

Easterly Government Properties, Inc. (NYSE:DEA) shares hit a new 52-week low during trading 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 trading hands. The stock had previously closed at $10.77.

A number of other analysts also recently commented on the company. Truist Financial reduced their price objective on Easterly Government Properties from $14.00 to $13.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, December 6th. StockNews.com raised Easterly Government Properties from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 4th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group lowered 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 report on Thursday, January 2nd.

Insider Buying and Selling at Easterly Government Properties

In related news, CEO Darrell W. Crate bought 10,000 shares of the business’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 transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 171,479 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,870,835.89. This represents a 6.19 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Company insiders own 8.10% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Easterly Government Properties

A number of large investors have recently bought and sold shares of DEA. Sterling Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Easterly Government Properties by 814.7% in the 4th quarter. Sterling Capital Management LLC now owns 3,110 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $35,000 after purchasing an additional 2,770 shares in the last quarter. Quarry LP lifted its holdings in Easterly Government Properties by 604.0% during the 4th quarter. Quarry LP now owns 5,878 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $67,000 after purchasing an additional 5,043 shares during the last quarter. Point72 Asia Singapore Pte. Ltd. acquired a new position in Easterly Government Properties in the fourth quarter valued at about $70,000. KBC Group NV grew its stake in Easterly Government Properties by 62.4% during the third quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 5,242 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $71,000 after buying an additional 2,014 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Parvin Asset Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Easterly Government Properties during the fourth quarter worth approximately $87,000. 86.51% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Easterly Government Properties Trading Up 0.4 %

The company has a market cap of $1.12 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 57.74 and a beta of 0.73. The company has a quick ratio of 4.01, a current ratio of 4.01 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.07. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $11.14 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $12.27.

Easterly Government Properties (NYSE:DEA) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 25th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.29 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.07 by $0.22. The firm had revenue of $78.25 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $79.49 million. Easterly Government Properties had a return on equity of 1.34% and a net margin of 6.25%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 7.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $0.28 EPS. Research analysts expect that Easterly Government Properties, Inc. will post 1.17 earnings per share for the current year.

Easterly Government Properties Dividend Announcement

The business 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. This represents a $1.06 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 10.20%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, March 5th. Easterly Government Properties’s dividend payout ratio is currently 557.89%.

Easterly Government Properties Company 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.