Easterly Government Properties, Inc. (NYSE:DEA) Plans Quarterly Dividend of $0.45

Key Points

• Easterly Government Properties, Inc. declared a quarterly dividend of $0.45 per share, with a projected annualized dividend of $1.80 and a yield of 8.12%.
• The company has a troubling payout ratio of 225.0%, indicating it is unable to cover its dividend with earnings and may struggle to maintain this dividend given future projections.
• Analysts have mixed ratings for Easterly Government Properties, with target prices ranging from $22.00 to $25.00, highlighting a shift in sentiment around the stock.

Easterly Government Properties, Inc. (NYSE:DEA - Get Free Report) announced a quarterly dividend on Wednesday, July 30th, RTT News reports. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, August 13th will be paid a dividend of 0.45 per share by the real estate investment trust on Monday, August 25th. This represents a c) dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 8.2%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, August 13th.

Easterly Government Properties has a dividend payout ratio of 225.0% indicating that the company cannot currently cover its dividend with earnings alone and is relying on its balance sheet to cover its dividend payments. Equities research analysts expect Easterly Government Properties to earn $1.21 per share next year, which means the company may not be able to cover its $1.80 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 148.8%.

Easterly Government Properties Stock Down 0.6%

Shares of NYSE:DEA traded down $0.14 during trading on Friday, hitting $21.86. The company's stock had a trading volume of 357,134 shares, compared to its average volume of 592,621. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $22.54 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $24.10. The company has a market capitalization of $981.62 million, a PE ratio of 52.12 and a beta of 0.94. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.14, a quick ratio of 4.90 and a current ratio of 4.90. Easterly Government Properties has a fifty-two week low of $19.33 and a fifty-two week high of $36.31.

Easterly Government Properties (NYSE:DEA - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 29th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.73 EPS for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of $0.73. The business had revenue of $78.68 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $80.67 million. Easterly Government Properties had a net margin of 5.86% and a return on equity of 1.30%. The company's quarterly revenue was up 8.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $0.29 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts expect that Easterly Government Properties will post 1.17 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Easterly Government Properties

Several institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in DEA. Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new position in Easterly Government Properties in the 4th quarter valued at about $252,000. LPL Financial LLC raised its holdings in Easterly Government Properties by 12.9% during the fourth quarter. LPL Financial LLC now owns 136,476 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $1,550,000 after purchasing an additional 15,635 shares in the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. raised 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 worth $126,773,000 after purchasing an additional 44,202 shares in the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised its holdings in Easterly Government Properties by 67.6% during the fourth quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 762,183 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $8,658,000 after purchasing an additional 307,369 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC increased its position in Easterly Government Properties by 0.8% during 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 purchasing an additional 19,858 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.