AlphaQuest LLC Trims Stake in Easterly Government Properties, Inc. $DEA

Key Points

• AlphaQuest LLC has significantly reduced its stake in Easterly Government Properties, Inc. by nearly 50%, owning 52,219 shares after selling 51,981 shares in the first quarter.
• Various hedge funds have modified their holdings in Easterly Government Properties, with Quarry LP increasing its stake by 604% during the fourth quarter.
• Analysts have given a mix of ratings on the stock, including a downgrade from Royal Bank Of Canada to "underperform" and a recent upgrade from BMO Capital Markets to "hold" with a target price of $25.00.

AlphaQuest LLC cut its holdings in Easterly Government Properties, Inc. (NYSE:DEA - Free Report) by 49.9% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 52,219 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock after selling 51,981 shares during the period. AlphaQuest LLC owned approximately 0.12% of Easterly Government Properties worth $554,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its stake in Easterly Government Properties by 0.6% in the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 11,221,717 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $118,950,000 after purchasing an additional 62,164 shares during the last quarter. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. lifted its stake in Easterly Government Properties by 4.5% in the fourth quarter. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. now owns 2,258,518 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $25,657,000 after purchasing an additional 97,286 shares during the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. lifted its stake in Easterly Government Properties by 2.9% in the first quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 2,116,599 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $22,436,000 after purchasing an additional 60,351 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its stake in Easterly Government Properties by 1.3% in the first quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 2,001,924 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $21,220,000 after purchasing an additional 26,596 shares during the last quarter. Finally, MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. lifted its stake in Easterly Government Properties by 74.6% in the fourth 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 purchasing an additional 795,058 shares during the last quarter. 86.51% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Easterly Government Properties Trading Down 0.2%

Shares of NYSE:DEA traded down $0.04 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $22.83. 657,992 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 530,634. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.04 billion, a PE ratio of 55.67 and a beta of 0.96. The business's 50 day moving average is $22.53 and its two-hundred day moving average is $23.20. The company has a quick ratio of 3.75, a current ratio of 3.75 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.24. Easterly Government Properties, Inc. has a one year low of $19.33 and a one year high of $36.31.

Easterly Government Properties (NYSE:DEA - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, August 5th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.74 EPS for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate of $0.74. The firm had revenue of $80.37 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $81.73 million. Easterly Government Properties had a net margin of 5.54% and a return on equity of 1.26%. The company's quarterly revenue was up 10.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $0.29 earnings per share. Easterly Government Properties has set its FY 2025 guidance at 2.980-3.030 EPS. As a group, research 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 declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, August 25th. Investors of record on Wednesday, August 13th were given a dividend of $0.45 per share. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, August 13th. This represents a $1.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 7.9%. Easterly Government Properties's payout ratio is currently 439.02%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

DEA has been the subject of several recent research reports. Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Easterly Government Properties from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a research note on Friday, June 6th. Royal Bank Of Canada lowered their price target on shares of Easterly Government Properties from $27.50 to $22.00 and set an "underperform" rating for the company in a research note on Monday, June 2nd. Finally, BMO Capital Markets raised shares of Easterly Government Properties from a "strong sell" rating to a "hold" rating and set a $25.00 price objective for the company in a research note on Wednesday, July 16th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating, three have issued a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $27.15.

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.