Prospera Financial Services Inc Boosts Stock Position in Easterly Government Properties, Inc. (NYSE:DEA)

Prospera Financial Services Inc raised its stake in shares of Easterly Government Properties, Inc. (NYSE:DEA) by 51.4% in the third quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 19,713 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after buying an additional 6,690 shares during the quarter. Prospera Financial Services Inc’s holdings in Easterly Government Properties were worth $268,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its position in shares of Easterly Government Properties by 1.6% in the 1st 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 during the last quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Easterly Government Properties by 4.3% in the third 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 in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its holdings in shares of Easterly Government Properties by 0.7% during the second quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,361,719 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $16,844,000 after buying an additional 9,738 shares during the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp increased its position in shares of Easterly Government Properties by 9.8% during the second quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 1,144,075 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $14,152,000 after acquiring an additional 102,521 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Deprince Race & Zollo Inc. raised its holdings in Easterly Government Properties by 11.2% in the 2nd quarter. Deprince Race & Zollo Inc. now owns 1,067,155 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $13,201,000 after acquiring an additional 107,753 shares during the last quarter. 86.51% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have commented on DEA. StockNews.com raised Easterly Government Properties from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, October 10th. Truist Financial lifted their price objective on Easterly Government Properties from $13.00 to $14.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, August 29th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group upgraded shares of 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 note on Monday, October 14th.

Easterly Government Properties Price Performance

Shares of DEA opened at $12.48 on Tuesday. The firm has a market cap of $1.32 billion, a PE ratio of 69.33 and a beta of 0.72. Easterly Government Properties, Inc. has a 1-year low of $10.94 and a 1-year high of $14.52. 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 firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $13.40 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $13.02.

Easterly Government Properties (NYSE:DEA) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, November 5th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.05 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.29 by ($0.24). The firm had revenue of $74.78 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $74.98 million. Easterly Government Properties had a net margin of 6.25% and a return on equity of 1.34%. The firm’s revenue was up 3.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last 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 year.

Easterly Government Properties Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, November 27th. Investors of record on Friday, November 15th will be issued a $0.265 dividend. This represents a $1.06 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 8.49%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, November 15th. Easterly Government Properties’s payout ratio 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.