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

Easterly Government Properties, Inc. (NYSE:DEA - Get Free Report)'s stock price reached a new 52-week low during mid-day 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.

Several other equities research analysts have also issued reports on DEA. Truist Financial dropped their price objective on 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. StockNews.com raised Easterly Government Properties from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 4th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group dropped their price objective on Easterly Government Properties from $15.00 to $12.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, January 2nd.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CEO Darrell W. Crate purchased 10,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Monday, December 23rd. The stock was purchased at an average price of $10.91 per share, with a total value of $109,100.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the chief executive officer now directly owns 171,479 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,870,835.89. This trade represents a 6.19 % increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Corporate insiders own 8.10% of the company's stock.

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Institutional Investors Weigh In On Easterly Government Properties

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of DEA. Van ECK Associates Corp lifted its stake in shares of Easterly Government Properties by 9.8% in the 3rd quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 19,066 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $265,000 after acquiring an additional 1,696 shares during the last quarter. Harbour Investments Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Easterly Government Properties by 2,764.1% in the 3rd quarter. Harbour Investments Inc. now owns 33,080 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $449,000 after acquiring an additional 31,925 shares during the last quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Easterly Government Properties by 4.3% in the 3rd quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 1,932,660 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $26,246,000 after acquiring an additional 79,400 shares during the last quarter. KBC Group NV lifted its stake in shares of Easterly Government Properties by 62.4% in 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. Finally, Quest Partners LLC bought a new stake in shares of Easterly Government Properties in the 3rd quarter valued at about $3,449,000. Institutional investors own 86.51% of the company's stock.

Easterly Government Properties Stock Performance

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 business has a 50 day moving average price of $11.14 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $12.27. The company has a market cap of $1.11 billion, a P/E ratio of 56.97 and a beta of 0.73.

Easterly Government Properties (NYSE:DEA - Get Free Report) last announced 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. Easterly Government Properties had a return on equity of 1.34% and a net margin of 6.25%. The company had revenue of $78.25 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $79.49 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $0.28 EPS. Easterly Government Properties's revenue was up 7.8% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Easterly Government Properties, Inc. will post 1.17 earnings per share for the current year.

Easterly Government Properties Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 17th. Investors 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 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 10.34%. Easterly Government Properties's dividend payout ratio is presently 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.