Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund Grows Position in Easterly Government Properties, Inc. (NYSE:DEA)

Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund increased its position in shares of Easterly Government Properties, Inc. (NYSE:DEA) by 3.1% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 54,255 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after buying an additional 1,616 shares during the quarter. Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund’s holdings in Easterly Government Properties were worth $616,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. State Street Corp grew its stake in Easterly Government Properties by 1.2% during the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 5,839,318 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $79,298,000 after buying an additional 66,663 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its stake in Easterly Government Properties by 0.4% during the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 2,552,691 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $34,671,000 after buying an additional 9,248 shares during the last quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. grew its stake in Easterly Government Properties by 4.3% during the 3rd quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 1,932,660 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $26,246,000 after buying an additional 79,400 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its stake in Easterly Government Properties by 0.8% during the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,909,257 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $25,928,000 after buying an additional 15,868 shares during the last quarter. Finally, UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC grew its stake in Easterly Government Properties by 478.8% during the 3rd quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 672,306 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $9,130,000 after buying an additional 556,148 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 86.51% of the company’s stock.

Easterly Government Properties Stock Up 0.2 %

Easterly Government Properties stock opened at $11.29 on Tuesday. Easterly Government Properties, Inc. has a twelve month low of $10.45 and a twelve month high of $14.52. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $11.19 and a two-hundred day moving average of $12.39. The company has a current ratio of 4.01, a quick ratio of 4.01 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.07. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.22 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 62.72 and a beta of 0.70.

Easterly Government Properties (NYSE:DEA) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 25th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.29 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.07 by $0.22. The company had revenue of $78.25 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $79.49 million. Easterly Government Properties had a return on equity of 1.34% and a net margin of 6.25%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 7.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm earned $0.28 EPS. As a group, research analysts expect that Easterly Government Properties, Inc. will post 1.17 earnings per share for the current year.

Easterly Government Properties Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 17th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, March 5th will be issued a $0.265 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, March 5th. This represents a $1.06 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 9.39%. Easterly Government Properties’s dividend payout ratio is currently 557.89%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts recently issued reports on DEA shares. StockNews.com upgraded Easterly Government Properties from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday. Truist Financial decreased their price objective on Easterly Government Properties from $14.00 to $13.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, December 6th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group decreased their price objective on Easterly Government Properties from $15.00 to $12.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, January 2nd.

Insider Activity

In other Easterly Government Properties news, CEO Darrell W. Crate purchased 10,000 shares of Easterly Government Properties stock in a transaction dated Monday, December 23rd. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $10.91 per share, with a total value of $109,100.00. Following the acquisition, the chief executive officer now directly owns 171,479 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,870,835.89. This represents a 6.19 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Insiders own 8.10% of the company’s stock.

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.