Royal Bank of Canada Has Lowered Expectations for Easterly Government Properties (NYSE:DEA) Stock Price

Easterly Government Properties (NYSE:DEA) had its price target decreased by analysts at Royal Bank of Canada from $27.50 to $22.00 in a research report issued on Monday,Benzinga reports. The firm currently has an “underperform” rating on the real estate investment trust’s stock. Royal Bank of Canada’s target price would indicate a potential upside of 1.62% from the company’s current price.

A number of other research firms have also issued reports on DEA. Compass Point reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and set a $23.75 target price (down from $37.50) on shares of Easterly Government Properties in a report on Thursday, April 10th. Wall Street Zen lowered Easterly Government Properties from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 7th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group began coverage on Easterly Government Properties in a research report on Monday, March 17th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $32.50 price target for the company. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, two have issued a hold rating and one has given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $27.69.

Easterly Government Properties Price Performance

NYSE:DEA opened at $21.65 on Monday. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $21.75 and its 200 day moving average price is $25.96. The firm has a market cap of $972.19 million, a P/E ratio of 120.28 and a beta of 0.90. Easterly Government Properties has a 52-week low of $19.33 and a 52-week high of $36.31. The company has a quick ratio of 4.01, a current ratio of 4.01 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.07.

Easterly Government Properties (NYSE:DEA) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, April 29th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.73 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, hitting analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.73. The firm had revenue of $78.68 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $80.67 million. Easterly Government Properties had a return on equity of 1.34% and a net margin of 6.25%. Easterly Government Properties’s revenue was up 8.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $0.29 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Easterly Government Properties will post 1.17 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Easterly Government Properties

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its position in shares of Easterly Government Properties by 0.6% in the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 11,221,717 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $118,950,000 after purchasing an additional 62,164 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its position in Easterly Government Properties by 0.8% during the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 2,572,549 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $29,230,000 after acquiring an additional 19,858 shares during the period. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. boosted its position in Easterly Government Properties by 25.7% during the 1st quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 2,339,515 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $24,799,000 after acquiring an additional 478,037 shares during the period. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. boosted its position in Easterly Government Properties by 4.5% during the 4th quarter. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. now owns 2,258,518 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $25,657,000 after acquiring an additional 97,286 shares during the period. Finally, Invesco Ltd. boosted its position in Easterly Government Properties by 2.9% during the 1st quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 2,116,599 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $22,436,000 after acquiring an additional 60,351 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 86.51% of the company’s stock.

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.