Principal Financial Group Inc. Has $5.24 Million Holdings in Easterly Government Properties, Inc. (NYSE:DEA)

Principal Financial Group Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Easterly Government Properties, Inc. (NYSE:DEA) by 2.7% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm 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 approximately 0.46% of Easterly Government Properties worth $5,241,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in DEA. Arrow Investment Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Easterly Government Properties by 14.2% in the first quarter. Arrow Investment Advisors LLC now owns 13,548 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $144,000 after acquiring an additional 1,686 shares during the last quarter. Bank of Montreal Can grew its stake in shares of Easterly Government Properties by 14.6% in the fourth quarter. Bank of Montreal Can now owns 14,214 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $161,000 after purchasing an additional 1,806 shares during the last quarter. Accel Wealth Management raised its position in Easterly Government Properties by 20.0% during the 1st quarter. Accel Wealth Management now owns 12,000 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $127,000 after purchasing an additional 2,000 shares during the last quarter. Monetary Management Group Inc. increased its stake in shares of Easterly Government Properties by 9.7% in 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 buying an additional 2,500 shares during the period. Finally, Cetera Investment Advisers increased its position in Easterly Government Properties by 22.0% during the 4th quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers now owns 14,601 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $166,000 after purchasing an additional 2,637 shares during the period. 86.51% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Easterly Government Properties Price Performance

Shares of NYSE DEA opened at $23.13 on Thursday. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $22.17 and a 200-day moving average of $24.54. The stock has a market cap of $1.04 billion, a PE ratio of 55.07 and a beta of 0.94. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.14, a quick ratio of 4.90 and a current ratio of 4.90. 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) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 29th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.73 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate of $0.73. The company had revenue of $78.68 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $80.67 million. Easterly Government Properties had a return on equity of 1.30% and a net margin of 5.86%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 8.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $0.29 earnings per share. Equities research analysts anticipate that Easterly Government Properties, Inc. will post 1.17 earnings per share for the current year.

Easterly Government Properties Cuts Dividend

The firm also recently announced a dividend, which was paid on Saturday, May 17th. Investors of record on Tuesday, May 6th were given a $0.45 dividend. This represents a yield of 8.92%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, May 5th. Easterly Government Properties’s payout ratio is presently 171.43%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Royal Bank Of Canada lowered their price objective on 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. Wall Street Zen cut shares of 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 an “underperform” rating to a “market perform” rating and set a $25.00 target price for the company in a research report on Wednesday. Finally, Compass Point reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and set a $23.75 target price (down from $37.50) on shares of Easterly Government Properties in a research report on Thursday, April 10th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating and one has assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Easterly Government Properties currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $27.15.

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.