Jefferies Financial Group Begins Coverage on Easterly Government Properties (NYSE:DEA)

Jefferies Financial Group initiated coverage on shares of Easterly Government Properties (NYSE:DEA) in a report issued on Monday, MarketBeat reports. The firm issued a buy rating and a $13.00 price objective on the real estate investment trust’s stock.

DEA has been the subject of several other reports. Royal Bank of Canada decreased their price target on shares of Easterly Government Properties from $12.00 to $11.00 and set an “underperform” rating for the company in a report on Monday, March 10th. StockNews.com raised shares of Easterly Government Properties from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 4th. Finally, Truist Financial dropped their price target on shares of Easterly Government Properties from $14.00 to $13.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, December 6th.

Easterly Government Properties Trading Up 0.0 %

NYSE DEA opened at $10.56 on Monday. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $11.04 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $12.17. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.07, a quick ratio of 4.01 and a current ratio of 4.01. Easterly Government Properties has a twelve month low of $10.18 and a twelve month high of $14.53. The stock has a market cap of $1.14 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 58.64 and a beta of 0.73.

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 for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.07 by $0.22. Easterly Government Properties had a return on equity of 1.34% and a net margin of 6.25%. The firm had revenue of $78.25 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $79.49 million. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $0.28 earnings per share. Easterly Government Properties’s quarterly revenue was up 7.8% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts anticipate that Easterly Government Properties will post 1.17 EPS for the current year.

Easterly Government Properties Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 17th. Investors of record on Wednesday, March 5th were issued a $0.265 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, March 5th. This represents a $1.06 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 10.04%. Easterly Government Properties’s dividend payout ratio is currently 557.89%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Easterly Government Properties

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

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Easterly Government Properties

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its holdings in Easterly Government Properties by 0.4% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 11,159,553 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $126,773,000 after purchasing an additional 44,202 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp raised its holdings in Easterly Government Properties by 1.2% in the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 5,839,318 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $79,298,000 after acquiring an additional 66,663 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in Easterly Government Properties by 0.8% in the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 2,572,549 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $29,230,000 after acquiring an additional 19,858 shares during the period. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. lifted its position in Easterly Government Properties by 4.5% during the 4th quarter. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. now owns 2,258,518 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $25,657,000 after acquiring an additional 97,286 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Invesco Ltd. boosted its holdings in Easterly Government Properties by 48.7% during the fourth quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 2,056,248 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $23,359,000 after acquiring an additional 673,270 shares during the period. 86.51% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.