DEA - Easterly Government Properties Inc. (DEA) Q1 2024 Earnings Call Transcript
2024-04-30 16:03:08 ET
Easterly Government Properties, Inc. (DEA)
Q1 2024 Earnings Conference Call
April 30, 2024, 11:00 AM ET
Company Participants
Lindsay Winterhalter - Head of Investor Relations
Darrell Crate - CEO
Meghan Baivier - President and COO
Allison Marino - CFO and CAO
Conference Call Participants
John Kim - BMO Capital Markets
Michael Griffin - Citi
Peter Abramowitz - Jefferies
Aditi Balachandran - RBC
Harvey Poppel - Poptech LP
Michael Lewis - Truist Securities
Bill Crow - Raymond James
Merrill Ross - Compass Point Research & Trading
Presentation
Operator
Greetings. Welcome to the Easterly Government Properties First Quarter 2024 Earnings Conference Call. At this time, all participants are in a listen-only mode. After the speakers' presentation, there will be a question-and-answer session between the company's research analysts and Easterly's management team. [Operator Instructions] Please be advised that today's conference is being recorded.
I would now like to hand the conference over to your speaker today, Lindsay Winterhalter, Head of Investor Relations. Please go ahead.
Lindsay Winterhalter
Good morning. Before the call begins, please note that certain statements made during this conference call may include statements that are not historical facts and are considered forward-looking statements within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Although the company believes that its expectations as reflected in any forward-looking statements are reasonable, it can give no assurance that these expectations will be obtained or achieved.
Furthermore, actual results may differ materially from those described in the forward-looking statements and will be affected by a variety of risks and factors that are beyond the company's control, including without limitation, those contained in the company's most recent Form 10-K filed with the SEC and in its other SEC filings. The company assumes no obligation to update publicly any forward-looking statements.
Additionally, on this conference call, the company may refer to certain non-GAAP financial measures such as funds from operations, core funds from operations and cash available for distribution. You can find a tabular reconciliation of these non-GAAP financial measures to the most comparable current GAAP numbers in the company's earnings release and separate supplemental information package on the Investor Relations page of the company's website at ir.easterlyreit.com.
I'd now like to turn the conference call over to Darrell Crate, CEO of Easterly Government Properties.
Darrell Crate
Thanks Lindsay, and thank you everyone for joining us.
We are pleased with our progress this quarter as we work through opportunities. I'll keep it brief so we can get to Q&A, but I've got three important messages I'd like you all to take away from this call. First, we believe there's a path towards material earnings growth for shareholders, and we're on it. Meghan and Allison will talk to you about the numerous drivers shortly.
Second, we know the payout ratio of our dividend is high, but we also believe there is a growth path we can pursue that helps materially close that gap. We are also actively reassessing and managing our expenses. Further, we currently sit with just under $3 billion in rent coming from the U.S. government with a leases that we own today, and if that portfolio were to renew up 10% for 10 years, which are modest assumptions, we'd be collecting nearly $6 billion while facing credit rent from the U.S. government. We believe we can offer as many dollars as we can to our shareholders, and given the creditworthiness and duration of the cash flows backing our dividends, we remain very comfortable with the periods of higher payout ratio....
Easterly Government Properties, Inc. (DEA) Q1 2024 Earnings Call Transcript