Whitestone REIT (NYSE:WSR) to Issue $0.05 Monthly Dividend

Whitestone REIT (NYSE:WSR) announced a monthly dividend on Thursday, June 12th, Wall Street Journal reports. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, September 2nd will be paid a dividend of 0.045 per share by the real estate investment trust on Thursday, September 11th. This represents a $0.54 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.36%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, September 2nd.

Whitestone REIT has a payout ratio of 128.6% indicating that the company cannot currently cover its dividend with earnings alone and is relying on its balance sheet to cover its dividend payments. Research 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 Down 0.3%

Shares of NYSE:WSR opened at $12.38 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 2.17, a current ratio of 2.17 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.49. Whitestone REIT has a 52-week low of $11.78 and a 52-week high of $15.36. The company has a 50 day moving average of $12.67 and a two-hundred day moving average of $13.50. The company has a market capitalization of $630.09 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 30.20, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.13 and a beta of 0.92.

Whitestone REIT (NYSE:WSR) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 30th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.25 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.24 by $0.01. Whitestone REIT had a net margin of 13.97% and a return on equity of 4.98%. The company had revenue of $37.40 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $38.95 million. As a group, analysts forecast that Whitestone REIT will post 0.99 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts have recently weighed in on WSR shares. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Whitestone REIT to a “sell” rating in a research report on Saturday. Truist Financial decreased their price target on shares of Whitestone REIT from $16.00 to $14.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, May 12th.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Whitestone REIT news, Director Donald A. Miller acquired 5,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, May 28th. The stock was purchased at an average price of $12.35 per share, with a total value of $61,750.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director now directly owns 21,708 shares in the company, valued at $268,093.80. This trade represents a 29.93% increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. 3.20% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Whitestone REIT Company Profile

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.