Teacher Retirement System of Texas Takes $155,000 Position in Easterly Government Properties, Inc. (NYSE:DEA)

Teacher Retirement System of Texas bought a new stake in shares of Easterly Government Properties, Inc. (NYSE:DEA - Free Report) in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm bought 14,653 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock, valued at approximately $155,000.

Several other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in DEA. Arrow Investment Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of Easterly Government Properties by 14.2% during the first quarter. Arrow Investment Advisors LLC now owns 13,548 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $144,000 after acquiring an additional 1,686 shares in the last quarter. Bank of Montreal Can increased its position in shares of Easterly Government Properties by 14.6% during the fourth quarter. Bank of Montreal Can now owns 14,214 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $161,000 after acquiring an additional 1,806 shares in the last quarter. Accel Wealth Management increased its position in shares of Easterly Government Properties by 20.0% during the first quarter. Accel Wealth Management now owns 12,000 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $127,000 after acquiring an additional 2,000 shares in the last quarter. Monetary Management Group Inc. increased its position in shares of Easterly Government Properties by 9.7% during the fourth quarter. Monetary Management Group Inc. now owns 28,250 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $321,000 after acquiring an additional 2,500 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Cetera Investment Advisers increased its position in shares of Easterly Government Properties by 22.0% during the fourth quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers now owns 14,601 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $166,000 after acquiring an additional 2,637 shares in the last quarter. 86.51% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts have commented on DEA shares. Royal Bank Of Canada cut their target price on shares of Easterly Government Properties from $27.50 to $22.00 and set an "underperform" rating for the company in a research report on Monday, June 2nd. Compass Point reaffirmed a "neutral" rating and issued a $23.75 target price (down previously from $37.50) on shares of Easterly Government Properties in a research report on Thursday, April 10th. 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 report on Wednesday, July 16th. Finally, 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. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating and one has issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $27.15.

Easterly Government Properties Stock Performance

Easterly Government Properties stock opened at $22.60 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.14, a current ratio of 4.90 and a quick ratio of 4.90. Easterly Government Properties, Inc. has a 1-year low of $19.33 and a 1-year high of $36.31. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.01 billion, a P/E ratio of 53.81 and a beta of 0.94. The company's 50-day moving average is $22.27 and its 200 day moving average is $24.41.

Easterly Government Properties (NYSE:DEA - Get Free Report) last released 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. Easterly Government Properties had a net margin of 5.86% and a return on equity of 1.30%. The firm had revenue of $78.68 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $80.67 million. During the same period last year, the firm earned $0.29 earnings per share. The company's quarterly revenue was up 8.1% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts forecast that Easterly Government Properties, Inc. will post 1.17 EPS for the current year.

Easterly Government Properties Cuts Dividend

The company also recently declared a dividend, which was paid on Saturday, May 17th. Investors 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 yield of 8.92%. Easterly Government Properties's dividend payout ratio is presently 171.43%.

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.

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