Easterly Government Properties (NYSE:DEA) Stock Price Down 5.3% – Time to Sell?

Easterly Government Properties, Inc. (NYSE:DEA) traded down 5.3% on Friday . The company traded as low as $11.90 and last traded at $11.91. 311,023 shares were traded during mid-day trading, a decline of 65% from the average session volume of 897,120 shares. The stock had previously closed at $12.57.

Analyst Ratings Changes

DEA has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Truist Financial lifted their price target on shares of Easterly Government Properties from $13.00 to $14.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 29th. StockNews.com upgraded Easterly Government Properties from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 10th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group raised Easterly Government Properties from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their price objective for the company from $13.00 to $15.00 in a research report on Monday, October 14th.

Easterly Government Properties Stock Down 3.6 %

The stock has a market capitalization of $1.25 billion, a P/E ratio of 66.17 and a beta of 0.72. 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 company’s 50-day moving average price is $13.57 and its 200 day moving average price is $12.99.

Easterly Government Properties (NYSE:DEA) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, November 5th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.05 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.29 by ($0.24). The business had revenue of $74.78 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $74.98 million. Easterly Government Properties had a return on equity of 1.34% and a net margin of 6.25%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 3.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $0.29 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts expect that Easterly Government Properties, Inc. will post 1.15 earnings per share for the current year.

Easterly Government Properties Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, November 27th. Stockholders of record on Friday, November 15th will be given a dividend of $0.265 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, November 15th. This represents a $1.06 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 8.93%. Easterly Government Properties’s dividend payout ratio is currently 588.89%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in DEA. GAMMA Investing LLC raised its position in Easterly Government Properties by 56.6% during the second quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 3,006 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $37,000 after purchasing an additional 1,086 shares during the period. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. raised its holdings in Easterly Government Properties by 35.6% during the 3rd 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 buying an additional 997 shares during the period. KBC Group NV lifted its position in Easterly Government Properties by 62.4% in 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. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC purchased a new position in Easterly Government Properties during the first quarter worth $89,000. Finally, National Bank of Canada FI bought a new position in Easterly Government Properties during the second quarter valued at $115,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 86.51% of the company’s stock.

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.