Whitestone REIT (NYSE:WSR) Declares Monthly Dividend of $0.05

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 given 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 dividend yield of 4.35%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, September 2nd.

Whitestone REIT has a payout ratio of 128.6% meaning 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 Trading Down 0.2%

NYSE:WSR opened at $12.42 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $632.13 million, a P/E ratio of 30.29, a P/E/G ratio of 2.13 and a beta of 0.92. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $12.68 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $13.52. Whitestone REIT has a 1 year low of $11.78 and a 1 year high of $15.36. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.49, a current ratio of 2.17 and a quick ratio of 2.17.

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

Insider Activity at Whitestone REIT

In related news, Director Donald A. Miller acquired 5,000 shares of Whitestone REIT stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, May 28th. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $12.35 per share, with a total value of $61,750.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the director now owns 21,708 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $268,093.80. This represents a 29.93% increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. 3.20% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms have recently weighed in on WSR. Truist Financial decreased their price target on shares of Whitestone REIT from $16.00 to $14.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, May 12th. Wall Street Zen began coverage on shares of Whitestone REIT in a report on Thursday, May 15th. They issued a “hold” rating on the stock.

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.