BMO Capital Markets Upgrades Easterly Government Properties (NYSE:DEA) to Hold

Easterly Government Properties (NYSE:DEA - Get Free Report) was upgraded by stock analysts at BMO Capital Markets from a "strong sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note issued to investors on Wednesday, Marketbeat reports. The brokerage currently has a $25.00 price target on the real estate investment trust's stock. BMO Capital Markets' price target indicates a potential upside of 9.12% from the company's previous close.

DEA has been the subject of several other reports. Compass Point restated a "neutral" rating and issued a $23.75 price target (down from $37.50) on shares of Easterly Government Properties in a research note on Thursday, April 10th. Royal Bank Of Canada decreased their price target on shares of Easterly Government Properties from $27.50 to $22.00 and set an "underperform" rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, June 2nd. Finally, Wall Street Zen lowered Easterly Government Properties from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a research report on Friday, June 6th. Two research analysts have 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. According to MarketBeat.com, Easterly Government Properties currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $27.15.

Easterly Government Properties Stock Performance

Shares of DEA traded down $0.24 on Wednesday, reaching $22.91. The company's stock had a trading volume of 184,548 shares, compared to its average volume of 529,387. Easterly Government Properties has a 12-month low of $19.33 and a 12-month high of $36.31. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.03 billion, a P/E ratio of 54.49 and a beta of 0.94. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.14, a current ratio of 4.90 and a quick ratio of 4.90. The stock's 50 day simple moving average is $22.17 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $24.54.

Easterly Government Properties (NYSE:DEA - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 29th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.73 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, meeting analysts' consensus estimates of $0.73. The firm 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 revenue for the quarter was up 8.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $0.29 EPS. Research analysts forecast that Easterly Government Properties will post 1.17 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Easterly Government Properties

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in DEA. Millennium Management LLC boosted its stake in Easterly Government Properties by 1,759.2% in the first quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 1,000,176 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $10,602,000 after acquiring an additional 946,381 shares in the last quarter. Schonfeld Strategic Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Easterly Government Properties in the 4th quarter worth $10,394,000. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. grew its stake in Easterly Government Properties by 74.6% during the 4th quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 1,861,478 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $21,146,000 after buying an additional 795,058 shares during the last quarter. Nuveen LLC acquired a new position in Easterly Government Properties during the 1st quarter valued at about $7,487,000. Finally, Invesco Ltd. raised its stake in Easterly Government Properties by 48.7% in 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 buying an additional 673,270 shares during the last quarter. 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.