Abacus Planning Group Inc. Sells 292,340 Shares of Easterly Government Properties, Inc. $DEA

Key Points

• Abacus Planning Group Inc. significantly reduced its stake in Easterly Government Properties, Inc. by 59.9%, selling 292,340 shares and now holding 195,386 shares worth approximately $4.34 million.
• Despite Abacus's sale, multiple hedge funds have increased their holdings in Easterly Government Properties, with notable growth from NewEdge Advisors LLC, which expanded its position by over 12,800% in the last quarter.
• Easterly Government Properties recently announced a dividend of $0.45 per share, maintaining an annualized dividend yield of 8.0%, despite a high payout ratio of 439.02%.

Abacus Planning Group Inc. lowered its holdings in Easterly Government Properties, Inc. (NYSE:DEA - Free Report) by 59.9% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 195,386 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock after selling 292,340 shares during the period. Abacus Planning Group Inc. owned about 0.44% of Easterly Government Properties worth $4,338,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in DEA. Universal Beteiligungs und Servicegesellschaft mbH bought a new position in Easterly Government Properties in the first quarter valued at $109,000. NewEdge Advisors LLC grew its position in Easterly Government Properties by 12,846.9% in the first quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC now owns 10,487 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $111,000 after purchasing an additional 10,406 shares in the last quarter. Annis Gardner Whiting Capital Advisors LLC bought a new position in Easterly Government Properties in the first quarter valued at $120,000. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC bought a new position in Easterly Government Properties in the fourth quarter valued at $121,000. Finally, Accel Wealth Management grew its position in Easterly Government Properties by 20.0% in the first quarter. Accel Wealth Management now owns 12,000 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $127,000 after purchasing an additional 2,000 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 86.51% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms recently weighed in on DEA. BMO Capital Markets raised shares of Easterly Government Properties from a "strong sell" rating to a "hold" rating and set a $25.00 target price for the company in a research report on Wednesday, July 16th. Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Easterly Government Properties from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a research report on Friday, June 6th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating, three have assigned a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $27.15.

Easterly Government Properties Stock Performance

Shares of DEA opened at $22.56 on Friday. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $22.67 and a 200-day moving average of $22.58. Easterly Government Properties, Inc. has a one year low of $19.33 and a one year high of $36.31. The company has a market cap of $1.02 billion, a PE ratio of 55.01 and a beta of 0.95. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.24, a current ratio of 3.75 and a quick ratio of 3.75.

Easterly Government Properties (NYSE:DEA - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, August 5th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.74 EPS for the quarter, meeting analysts' consensus estimates of $0.74. Easterly Government Properties had a net margin of 5.54% and a return on equity of 1.26%. The company had revenue of $80.37 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $81.73 million. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $0.29 EPS. The company's quarterly revenue was up 10.5% on a year-over-year basis. Easterly Government Properties has set its FY 2025 guidance at 2.980-3.030 EPS. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Easterly Government Properties, Inc. will post 1.17 earnings per share for the current year.

Easterly Government Properties Cuts Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, August 25th. Investors of record on Wednesday, August 13th were issued a dividend of $0.45 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, August 13th. This represents a $1.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 8.0%. Easterly Government Properties's payout ratio is presently 439.02%.

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.

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