Chicago Atlantic Real Estate Finance (NASDAQ:REFI) Announces Earnings Results, Misses Estimates By $0.01 EPS

Key Points

• Chicago Atlantic Real Estate Finance reported quarterly EPS of $0.49, missing the $0.50 consensus estimate, while revenue of $13.66 million also came in below expectations of $14.95 million.
• Distributable earnings were $0.49 per share, above the $0.47 quarterly dividend, which the company has paid for 18 consecutive quarters.
• Liquidity remains tight, and management expects originations to slow in the fourth quarter. The proposed merger with LIEN is now expected to close in 2027, pending regulatory review and shareholder approval.

Chicago Atlantic Real Estate Finance (NASDAQ:REFI - Get Free Report) released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday. The company reported $0.49 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.50 by ($0.01), FiscalAI reports. Chicago Atlantic Real Estate Finance had a return on equity of 11.53% and a net margin of 54.57%. The company had revenue of $13.66 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $14.95 million.

Here are the key takeaways from Chicago Atlantic Real Estate Finance's conference call:

• Distributable earnings were $0.49 per fully diluted share, above the $0.47 quarterly dividend; the company said it has now paid that dividend for 18 consecutive quarters.
• The portfolio totaled $527.7 million across 28 borrowers, with a 14.8% weighted-average yield to maturity. Floating-rate loans make up 64% of the portfolio, and management estimates each 25-basis-point rate increase would add about $0.015 per share to quarterly distributable earnings.
• The proposed merger with LIEN, which remains subject to SEC review and stockholder approvals, is now expected to close in 2027. Management cited potential benefits from greater scale and a broader investment mandate, while noting those benefits are not assured.
• Liquidity is tight: the company reported about $15.2 million available on its revolving facility and approximately $12 million of total liquidity after estimated liabilities and anticipated fundings, and expects originations to slow in the fourth quarter.
• Non-accruals were 3.1% of the portfolio, down from 3.7% at the prior quarter-end mainly because the portfolio grew; the amount of non-accruals was unchanged. Adjusted book value per share slipped to $14.12 from $14.15.

Chicago Atlantic Real Estate Finance Trading Up 2.8%

REFI traded up $0.24 during trading on Tuesday, hitting $9.11. The company's stock had a trading volume of 13,456 shares, compared to its average volume of 166,689. The firm has a market capitalization of $233.27 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 6.65 and a beta of 0.28. Chicago Atlantic Real Estate Finance has a twelve month low of $8.59 and a twelve month high of $13.49. The business's fifty day simple moving average is $9.92 and its 200 day simple moving average is $11.02.

Chicago Atlantic Real Estate Finance Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, October 15th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, September 30th were issued a $0.47 dividend. This represents a $1.88 annualized dividend and a yield of 20.6%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, September 30th. Chicago Atlantic Real Estate Finance's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 137.23%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have commented on REFI. Citigroup reiterated a "market outperform" rating on shares of Chicago Atlantic Real Estate Finance in a research note on Wednesday, August 12th. Atlantic Securities set a $16.00 target price on Chicago Atlantic Real Estate Finance in a report on Wednesday, August 12th. Citizens Jmp dropped their target price on Chicago Atlantic Real Estate Finance from $18.00 to $16.00 and set a "market outperform" rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, August 12th. Weiss Ratings downgraded shares of Chicago Atlantic Real Estate Finance from a "hold (c-)" rating to a "sell (d+)" rating in a report on Thursday, October 8th. Finally, Zacks Research lowered shares of Chicago Atlantic Real Estate Finance from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 4th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, two have issued a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $16.00.

Insider Transactions at Chicago Atlantic Real Estate Finance

In other Chicago Atlantic Real Estate Finance news, Chairman John Mazarakis bought 40,181 shares of Chicago Atlantic Real Estate Finance stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, August 26th. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $10.67 per share, with a total value of $428,731.27. Following the purchase, the chairman directly owned 519,032 shares in the company, valued at $5,538,071.44. This represents a 8.39% increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CEO Peter Sack bought 3,500 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, August 19th. The shares were acquired at an average price of $10.45 per share, for a total transaction of $36,575.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 123,356 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,289,070.20. This represents a 2.92% increase in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this purchase are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders acquired a total of 122,856 shares of company stock valued at $1,287,094 in the last three months. 6.50% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Chicago Atlantic Real Estate Finance Company Profile

Chicago Atlantic Real Estate Finance, Inc NASDAQ: REFI is a specialty finance company organized as a real estate investment trust (REIT). The company focuses on originating, acquiring, and managing commercial real estate loans and other credit investments, with an emphasis on opportunities in the cannabis industry.

Chicago Atlantic Real Estate Finance primarily provides senior secured loans to state-licensed cannabis operators, cultivators, processors, dispensaries, and related businesses.

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