Whitestone REIT (NYSE:WSR) Plans $0.05 Monthly Dividend

Whitestone REIT (NYSE:WSR) declared a monthly dividend on Friday, March 7th, Wall Street Journal reports. Shareholders of record on Monday, June 2nd will be paid a dividend of 0.045 per share by the real estate investment trust on Thursday, June 12th. This represents a $0.54 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.79%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, June 2nd.

Whitestone REIT has increased its dividend payment by an average of 12.0% per year 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. 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 Up 3.7 %

WSR opened at $14.23 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.49, a current ratio of 2.17 and a quick ratio of 2.17. The company has a market cap of $720.90 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 34.72, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.13 and a beta of 1.29. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $13.57 and a 200 day simple moving average of $13.83. Whitestone REIT has a fifty-two week low of $10.77 and a fifty-two week high of $15.36.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Truist Financial upped their price target 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. StockNews.com started coverage on shares of Whitestone REIT in a research report on Tuesday, March 4th. They set a “hold” rating on the stock. Finally, JMP Securities restated a “market outperform” rating and set a $16.00 target price on shares of Whitestone REIT in a research note on Tuesday, December 10th.

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.