Easterly Government Properties, Inc. $DEA Shares Sold by AlphaQuest LLC

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

Several other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of DEA. Wells Fargo & Company MN grew its holdings in Easterly Government Properties by 33.8% in the fourth quarter. Wells Fargo & Company MN now owns 71,785 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $815,000 after purchasing an additional 18,151 shares during the period. Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new stake in Easterly Government Properties in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $252,000. Barclays PLC grew its holdings in Easterly Government Properties by 5.7% in the fourth quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 174,680 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $1,985,000 after purchasing an additional 9,468 shares during the period. First Trust Advisors LP grew its holdings in Easterly Government Properties by 6.2% in the fourth quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 196,418 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $2,231,000 after purchasing an additional 11,387 shares during the period. Finally, Tower Research Capital LLC TRC grew its holdings in Easterly Government Properties by 264.6% in the fourth quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC now owns 24,843 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $282,000 after purchasing an additional 18,029 shares during the period. 86.51% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts have commented on DEA shares. Wall Street Zen lowered Easterly Government Properties from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a report on Friday, June 6th. BMO Capital Markets raised Easterly Government Properties from a "strong sell" rating to a "hold" rating and set a $25.00 price target on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, July 16th. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada lowered their price target on 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. One analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating, three have given a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Easterly Government Properties presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $27.15.

Easterly Government Properties Trading Down 0.2%

NYSE DEA traded down $0.04 on Friday, reaching $22.83. 657,992 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 586,243. The business's fifty day moving average price is $22.52 and its 200 day moving average price is $23.28. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.04 billion, a P/E ratio of 55.67 and a beta of 0.94. The company has a current ratio of 3.75, a quick ratio of 3.75 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.24. Easterly Government Properties, Inc. 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 released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, August 5th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.74 earnings per share for the quarter, hitting analysts' consensus estimates of $0.74. The company had revenue of $80.37 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $81.73 million. Easterly Government Properties had a return on equity of 1.26% and a net margin of 5.54%.The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 10.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $0.29 earnings per share. Easterly Government Properties has set its FY 2025 guidance at 2.980-3.030 EPS. 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 disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, August 25th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, August 13th were paid a dividend of $0.45 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, August 13th. This represents a $1.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 7.9%. Easterly Government Properties's payout ratio is 439.02%.

Easterly Government Properties 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.