Whitestone REIT (NYSE:WSR) Increases Dividend to $0.05 Per Share

Whitestone REIT (NYSE:WSR) declared a monthly dividend on Thursday, March 6th, NASDAQ Dividends reports. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, April 1st will be given a dividend of 0.045 per share by the real estate investment trust on Thursday, April 10th. This represents a $0.54 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.79%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, April 1st. This is a 9.1% increase from Whitestone REIT’s previous monthly dividend of $0.04.

Whitestone REIT has raised its dividend payment by an average of 12.0% annually over the last three years. Whitestone REIT has a dividend payout ratio of 108.0% meaning the company cannot currently cover its dividend with earnings alone and is relying on its balance sheet to cover its dividend payments. Equities analysts expect Whitestone REIT to earn $1.05 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $0.54 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 51.4%.

Whitestone REIT Stock Up 3.7 %

Shares of Whitestone REIT stock traded up $0.50 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $14.23. 446,612 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 268,022. The company has a 50 day moving average of $13.56 and a two-hundred day moving average of $13.82. Whitestone REIT has a fifty-two week low of $10.77 and a fifty-two week high of $15.36. The company has a current ratio of 2.17, a quick ratio of 2.17 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.49. The stock has a market cap of $720.90 million, a P/E ratio of 34.72, a P/E/G ratio of 2.13 and a beta of 1.26.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms have recently commented on WSR. StockNews.com began coverage on shares of Whitestone REIT in a research note on Tuesday. They set a “hold” rating for the company. JMP Securities restated a “market outperform” rating and set a $16.00 price objective on shares of Whitestone REIT in a research note on Tuesday, December 10th. Finally, Truist Financial upped their target price on shares of Whitestone REIT from $15.00 to $16.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, November 29th.

About Whitestone REIT

Whitestone REIT (NYSE: WSR) is a community-centered real estate investment trust (REIT) that acquires, owns, operates, and develops open-air, retail centers located in some of the fastest growing markets in the country: Phoenix, Austin, Dallas-Fort Worth, Houston and San Antonio. Our centers are convenience focused: merchandised with a mix of service-oriented tenants providing food (restaurants and grocers), self-care (health and fitness), services (financial and logistics), education and entertainment to the surrounding communities.