Sargent Investment Group LLC Cuts Stake in Easterly Government Properties, Inc. (NYSE:DEA)

Sargent Investment Group LLC reduced its stake in Easterly Government Properties, Inc. (NYSE:DEA) by 5.6% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 67,715 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after selling 4,000 shares during the period. Sargent Investment Group LLC owned 0.07% of Easterly Government Properties worth $920,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the stock. UniSuper Management Pty Ltd lifted its holdings in Easterly Government Properties by 187.5% during the 1st quarter. UniSuper Management Pty Ltd now owns 78,486 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $903,000 after buying an additional 51,186 shares during the last quarter. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Easterly Government Properties by 273.4% during the 2nd quarter. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. now owns 91,458 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $1,131,000 after purchasing an additional 66,965 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its position in Easterly Government Properties by 1.6% in the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 11,009,182 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $126,716,000 after purchasing an additional 175,750 shares in the last quarter. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. lifted its position in shares of Easterly Government Properties by 24.7% during the first quarter. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. now owns 244,030 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $2,809,000 after purchasing an additional 48,375 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Aurora Investment Managers LLC. boosted its position in shares of Easterly Government Properties by 14.2% in the 3rd quarter. Aurora Investment Managers LLC. now owns 288,391 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $3,916,000 after purchasing an additional 35,864 shares during the last quarter. 86.51% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts have recently commented on the company. Jefferies Financial Group raised Easterly Government Properties from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their target price for the company from $13.00 to $15.00 in a research report on Monday, October 14th. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Easterly Government Properties from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, October 10th. Finally, Truist Financial lifted their target price on shares of Easterly Government Properties from $13.00 to $14.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 29th.

Easterly Government Properties Price Performance

Shares of NYSE DEA traded down $0.16 during mid-day trading on Thursday, hitting $12.93. 530,097 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 888,071. The company’s 50-day moving average is $13.59 and its two-hundred day moving average is $12.99. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.07, a current ratio of 4.01 and a quick ratio of 4.01. Easterly Government Properties, Inc. has a 1 year low of $10.94 and a 1 year high of $14.52. The company has a market capitalization of $1.37 billion, a P/E ratio of 72.11 and a beta of 0.72.

Easterly Government Properties (NYSE:DEA) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, November 5th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.05 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.29 by ($0.24). The business had revenue of $74.78 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $74.98 million. Easterly Government Properties had a return on equity of 1.34% and a net margin of 6.25%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 3.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $0.29 EPS. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Easterly Government Properties, Inc. will post 1.15 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Easterly Government Properties Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, November 27th. Stockholders of record on Friday, November 15th will be paid a dividend of $0.265 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, November 15th. This represents a $1.06 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 8.20%. Easterly Government Properties’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 588.89%.

About Easterly Government Properties

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.