Swiss National Bank Boosts Holdings in Easterly Government Properties, Inc. $DEA

Swiss National Bank raised its holdings in shares of Easterly Government Properties, Inc. (NYSE:DEA) by 1.6% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 194,410 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after acquiring an additional 3,100 shares during the quarter. Swiss National Bank owned approximately 0.43% of Easterly Government Properties worth $2,061,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Quarry LP increased its holdings in Easterly Government Properties by 604.0% during the 4th quarter. Quarry LP now owns 5,878 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $67,000 after acquiring an additional 5,043 shares in the last quarter. Point72 Asia Singapore Pte. Ltd. purchased a new position in Easterly Government Properties during the 4th quarter valued at about $70,000. Parvin Asset Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Easterly Government Properties during the fourth quarter worth about $87,000. Universal Beteiligungs und Servicegesellschaft mbH purchased a new stake in shares of Easterly Government Properties during the first quarter worth about $109,000. Finally, Lazard Asset Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Easterly Government Properties by 182.2% during the fourth quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC now owns 10,445 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $118,000 after buying an additional 6,744 shares in the last quarter. 86.51% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have recently commented on the stock. 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 report on Monday, June 2nd. Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Easterly Government Properties from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Friday, June 6th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets upgraded shares of Easterly Government Properties from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $25.00 price target for the company in a report on Wednesday, July 16th. 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 stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $27.15.

Easterly Government Properties Price Performance

Easterly Government Properties stock opened at $22.52 on Friday. Easterly Government Properties, Inc. has a 1 year low of $19.33 and a 1 year high of $36.31. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $22.54 and a 200 day moving average price of $23.38. The company has a market cap of $1.02 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 54.93 and a beta of 0.94. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.24, a quick ratio of 3.75 and a current ratio of 3.75.

Easterly Government Properties (NYSE:DEA) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, August 5th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.74 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, meeting analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.74. Easterly Government Properties had a net margin of 5.54% and a return on equity of 1.26%. The firm had revenue of $80.37 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $81.73 million. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $0.29 earnings per share. Easterly Government Properties’s revenue was up 10.5% compared to the same quarter last year. Easterly Government Properties has set its FY 2025 guidance at 2.980-3.030 EPS. Sell-side analysts predict 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 announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, August 25th. Investors of record on Wednesday, August 13th will be issued a $0.45 dividend. This represents a $1.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 8.0%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, August 13th. Easterly Government Properties’s payout ratio is presently 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.