Principal Financial Group Inc. Acquires 12,863 Shares of Easterly Government Properties, Inc. (NYSE:DEA)

Principal Financial Group Inc. increased its position in shares of Easterly Government Properties, Inc. (NYSE:DEA - Free Report) by 2.7% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 494,419 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock after acquiring an additional 12,863 shares during the quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. owned about 0.46% of Easterly Government Properties worth $5,241,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of DEA. Teacher Retirement System of Texas acquired a new stake in shares of Easterly Government Properties in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $155,000. Essex Financial Services Inc. increased its position in Easterly Government Properties by 45.6% during the 1st quarter. Essex Financial Services Inc. now owns 79,879 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $847,000 after buying an additional 25,035 shares during the period. Arrow Investment Advisors LLC increased its position in Easterly Government Properties by 14.2% during the 1st quarter. Arrow Investment Advisors LLC now owns 13,548 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $144,000 after buying an additional 1,686 shares during the period. Abundance Wealth Counselors bought a new position in Easterly Government Properties during the 1st quarter worth $827,000. Finally, Kempner Capital Management Inc. increased its position in Easterly Government Properties by 53.1% during the 1st quarter. Kempner Capital Management Inc. now owns 486,674 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $5,159,000 after buying an additional 168,694 shares during the period. 86.51% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms have recently issued reports on DEA. Royal Bank Of Canada reduced their target price on Easterly Government Properties from $27.50 to $22.00 and set an "underperform" rating on the stock in a report on Monday, June 2nd. Compass Point reaffirmed a "neutral" rating and issued a $23.75 price objective (down from $37.50) on shares of Easterly Government Properties in a research note on Thursday, April 10th. Wall Street Zen lowered Easterly Government Properties from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a research note on Friday, June 6th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets raised Easterly Government Properties from a "strong sell" rating to a "hold" rating and set a $25.00 price objective on the stock in a research note on Wednesday. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating and one has given a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $27.15.

Easterly Government Properties Trading Down 1.4%

Shares of DEA stock traded down $0.32 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $22.60. 511,350 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 530,836. The stock's fifty day simple moving average is $22.22 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $24.51. Easterly Government Properties, Inc. has a 1-year low of $19.33 and a 1-year high of $36.31. The company has a market cap of $1.01 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 53.81 and a beta of 0.94. The company has a quick ratio of 4.90, a current ratio of 4.90 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.14.

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, hitting analysts' consensus estimates of $0.73. Easterly Government Properties had a return on equity of 1.30% and a net margin of 5.86%. The company had revenue of $78.68 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $80.67 million. During the same period last year, the company earned $0.29 earnings per share. The firm's revenue was up 8.1% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts anticipate that Easterly Government Properties, Inc. will post 1.17 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Easterly Government Properties Cuts Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a dividend, which was paid on Saturday, May 17th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, May 6th were given a dividend of $0.45 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, May 5th. This represents a dividend yield of 8.92%. Easterly Government Properties's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 171.43%.

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.