Easterly Government Properties (NYSE:DEA) Shares Pass Below 50 Day Moving Average – Should You Sell?

Easterly Government Properties, Inc. (NYSE:DEA)’s share price passed below its 50 day moving average during trading on Wednesday . The stock has a 50 day moving average of $23.18 and traded as low as $21.91. Easterly Government Properties shares last traded at $22.10, with a volume of 409,547 shares changing hands.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms have recently weighed in on DEA. Truist Financial decreased their target price on Easterly Government Properties from $25.00 to $24.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, March 11th. Weiss Ratings upgraded shares of Easterly Government Properties from a “sell (d+)” rating to a “hold (c-)” rating in a report on Friday, March 6th. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Easterly Government Properties from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, January 10th. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada boosted their price objective on shares of Easterly Government Properties from $21.00 to $22.00 and gave the company an “underperform” rating in a research report on Monday, March 2nd. One analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating, three have issued a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $23.49.

Easterly Government Properties Price Performance

The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $23.16 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $22.41. The stock has a market cap of $1.01 billion, a PE ratio of 77.77 and a beta of 0.96. The company has a current ratio of 3.87, a quick ratio of 3.87 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.22.

Easterly Government Properties (NYSE:DEA) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Monday, February 23rd. The real estate investment trust reported $0.10 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.77 by ($0.67). The business had revenue of $87.04 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $87.73 million. Easterly Government Properties had a net margin of 3.87% and a return on equity of 0.94%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 11.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $0.29 earnings per share. Easterly Government Properties has set its FY 2026 guidance at 3.050-3.120 EPS. On average, equities analysts expect that Easterly Government Properties, Inc. will post 1.17 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Easterly Government Properties Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 19th. Investors of record on Thursday, March 5th were paid a dividend of $0.45 per share. This represents a $1.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 8.3%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, March 5th. Easterly Government Properties’s dividend payout ratio is 642.86%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Easterly Government Properties

A number of large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in DEA. Millennium Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Easterly Government Properties by 1,759.2% during the first quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 1,000,176 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $10,602,000 after buying an additional 946,381 shares during the last quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. bought a new position in shares of Easterly Government Properties during the 4th quarter worth approximately $8,409,000. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised its stake in shares of Easterly Government Properties by 92.4% during the 4th quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 488,303 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $10,347,000 after acquiring an additional 234,517 shares in the last quarter. Kennedy Capital Management LLC purchased a new stake in Easterly Government Properties during the second quarter valued at approximately $5,124,000. Finally, Thrivent Financial for Lutherans boosted its stake in Easterly Government Properties by 249.2% in the second quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans now owns 254,659 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $5,653,000 after acquiring an additional 181,732 shares in the last quarter. 86.51% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

About Easterly Government Properties

Easterly Government Properties, Inc is a real estate investment trust that specializes in the acquisition, development and management of commercial properties leased to U.S. government agencies. Structured as a triple-net lease REIT, the company focuses on single-tenant assets with long-term, credit-backed leases that transfer most property-level responsibilities—including taxes, insurance and maintenance—to its government tenants.

The firm’s portfolio encompasses a variety of facility types, including office buildings, training centers, laboratories and mission-critical installations used by federal agencies.