Easterly Government Properties (NYSE:DEA) Lowered to Sell Rating by StockNews.com

StockNews.com lowered shares of Easterly Government Properties (NYSE:DEA) from a hold rating to a sell rating in a research note published on Friday.

A number of other research firms have also weighed in on DEA. Jefferies Financial Group cut their price objective on Easterly Government Properties from $15.00 to $12.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday. Truist Financial lowered their target price on shares of Easterly Government Properties from $14.00 to $13.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, December 6th.

Easterly Government Properties Stock Up 0.4 %

NYSE DEA opened at $11.52 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 4.01, a current ratio of 4.01 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.07. Easterly Government Properties has a 52 week low of $10.76 and a 52 week high of $14.52. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $12.22 and its 200-day simple moving average is $12.95. The firm has a market cap of $1.22 billion, a PE ratio of 64.00 and a beta of 0.69.

Easterly Government Properties (NYSE:DEA) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, November 5th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.05 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.29 by ($0.24). The company had revenue of $74.78 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $74.98 million. Easterly Government Properties had a net margin of 6.25% and a return on equity of 1.34%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 3.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $0.29 EPS. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Easterly Government Properties will post 1.16 earnings per share for the current year.

Easterly Government Properties Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, November 27th. Shareholders of record on Friday, November 15th were issued a $0.265 dividend. This represents a $1.06 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 9.20%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, November 15th. Easterly Government Properties’s dividend payout ratio is presently 588.89%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Easterly Government Properties news, CEO Darrell W. Crate bought 10,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, December 23rd. The stock was bought at an average price of $10.91 per share, for a total transaction of $109,100.00. Following the completion of the transaction, 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 position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. 8.10% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Easterly Government Properties

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. grew its position in shares of Easterly Government Properties by 35.6% in the third 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 period. GAMMA Investing LLC grew its holdings in Easterly Government Properties by 29.1% in the 3rd quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 3,881 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $53,000 after buying an additional 875 shares during the period. KBC Group NV increased its stake in shares of Easterly Government Properties by 62.4% during the 3rd 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. National Bank of Canada FI acquired a new position in shares of Easterly Government Properties during the 2nd quarter valued at about $115,000. Finally, CIBC Asset Management Inc purchased a new position in shares of Easterly Government Properties during the 2nd quarter worth about $128,000. 86.51% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.