Jefferies Financial Group Upgrades Easterly Government Properties (NYSE:DEA) to “Buy”

Jefferies Financial Group upgraded shares of Easterly Government Properties (NYSE:DEA) from a hold rating to a buy rating in a research note issued to investors on Monday morning, Marketbeat reports. The brokerage currently has $15.00 price objective on the real estate investment trust’s stock, up from their prior price objective of $13.00.

A number of other equities research analysts have also recently commented on DEA. StockNews.com raised shares of Easterly Government Properties from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, October 10th. Truist Financial upped their target price on shares of Easterly Government Properties from $13.00 to $14.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, August 29th.

Easterly Government Properties Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:DEA opened at $14.41 on Monday. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $13.48 and a 200-day simple moving average of $12.69. Easterly Government Properties has a one year low of $10.27 and a one year high of $14.48. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.02, a quick ratio of 3.57 and a current ratio of 3.57. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.48 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 72.05 and a beta of 0.72.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its stake in shares of Easterly Government Properties by 1.6% during the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 11,009,182 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $126,716,000 after acquiring an additional 175,750 shares during the period. Victory Capital Management Inc. grew its position in Easterly Government Properties by 1.2% during the second quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 1,853,260 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $22,925,000 after buying an additional 21,795 shares during the period. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. grew its position in Easterly Government Properties by 5.0% during the first quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 1,516,641 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $17,457,000 after buying an additional 71,939 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its position in 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 worth $16,844,000 after buying an additional 9,738 shares during the period. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp grew its position in 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 worth $14,152,000 after buying an additional 102,521 shares during the period. 86.51% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.