Easterly Government Properties (NYSE:DEA) Given Neutral Rating at Compass Point

Easterly Government Properties (NYSE:DEA)‘s stock had its “neutral” rating reaffirmed by equities researchers at Compass Point in a research note issued to investors on Thursday, MarketBeat Ratings reports. They presently have a $9.50 target price on the real estate investment trust’s stock, down from their previous target price of $15.00. Compass Point’s price objective would suggest a potential upside of 19.27% from the company’s previous close.

A number of other equities research analysts have also recently commented on DEA. Jefferies Financial Group assumed coverage on shares of Easterly Government Properties in a report on Monday, March 17th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $13.00 price target on the stock. Royal Bank of Canada lowered their target price on shares of Easterly Government Properties from $12.00 to $11.00 and set an “underperform” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, March 10th. Finally, StockNews.com raised shares of Easterly Government Properties from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, March 4th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating and one has given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $11.63.

Easterly Government Properties Stock Down 16.3 %

DEA stock traded down $1.56 during mid-day trading on Thursday, reaching $7.97. 2,235,204 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,120,324. The stock has a market cap of $859.99 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 44.56 and a beta of 0.87. 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 fifty-two week low of $8.01 and a fifty-two week high of $14.53. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $10.62 and its 200 day moving average price is $11.79.

Easterly Government Properties (NYSE:DEA) last released 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 business had revenue of $78.25 million during 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. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 7.8% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Easterly Government Properties will post 1.17 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Rhumbline Advisers grew its position in Easterly Government Properties by 0.3% in the fourth quarter. Rhumbline Advisers now owns 321,908 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $3,657,000 after acquiring an additional 1,071 shares in the last quarter. Louisiana State Employees Retirement System grew its position in Easterly Government Properties by 2.6% in the fourth quarter. Louisiana State Employees Retirement System now owns 48,000 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $545,000 after acquiring an additional 1,200 shares in the last quarter. Truist Financial Corp grew its position in Easterly Government Properties by 7.9% in the fourth quarter. Truist Financial Corp now owns 21,435 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $243,000 after acquiring an additional 1,574 shares in the last quarter. Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund grew its position in Easterly Government Properties by 3.1% in the fourth quarter. Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund now owns 54,255 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $616,000 after acquiring an additional 1,616 shares in the last quarter. Finally, The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company grew its position in Easterly Government Properties by 3.5% in the third quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 48,846 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $663,000 after acquiring an additional 1,637 shares in the last quarter. 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.