Magnetar Financial LLC Buys New Position in Easterly Government Properties, Inc. (NYSE:DEA)

Magnetar Financial LLC acquired a new position in Easterly Government Properties, Inc. (NYSE:DEA) during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund acquired 31,620 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock, valued at approximately $359,000.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the business. State Street Corp boosted its position in Easterly Government Properties by 1.2% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 5,839,318 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $79,298,000 after purchasing an additional 66,663 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its position in Easterly Government Properties by 0.4% in the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 2,552,691 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $34,671,000 after purchasing an additional 9,248 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its position in Easterly Government Properties by 3.5% in the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,975,328 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $22,440,000 after purchasing an additional 66,071 shares during the last quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. boosted its position in Easterly Government Properties by 0.5% in the fourth quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 1,941,886 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $22,060,000 after purchasing an additional 9,226 shares during the last quarter. Finally, UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC boosted its position in Easterly Government Properties by 478.8% in the third 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 purchasing an additional 556,148 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 86.51% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

DEA has been the topic of several research analyst reports. StockNews.com raised Easterly Government Properties from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 4th. Jefferies Financial Group assumed coverage on Easterly Government Properties in a research report on Monday, March 17th. They set a “buy” rating and a $13.00 price target on the stock. Royal Bank of Canada dropped their price target on Easterly Government Properties from $12.00 to $11.00 and set an “underperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, March 10th. Finally, Truist Financial dropped their price target on Easterly Government Properties from $14.00 to $13.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, December 6th.

Easterly Government Properties Stock Down 1.4 %

Shares of NYSE DEA opened at $10.45 on Friday. Easterly Government Properties, Inc. has a one year low of $10.18 and a one year high of $14.53. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.07, a current ratio of 4.01 and a quick ratio of 4.01. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $11.01 and its 200-day moving average price is $12.14. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.13 billion, a PE ratio of 58.03 and a beta of 0.73.

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

Easterly Government Properties Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 17th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, March 5th were paid a $0.265 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, March 5th. This represents a $1.06 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 10.15%. Easterly Government Properties’s dividend payout ratio is currently 557.89%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

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

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.