Elme Communities (NYSE:ELME) Announces $0.18 Quarterly Dividend

Key Points

• Elme Communities declared a quarterly dividend of $0.18 per share, with stockholders of record set to receive it on October 3rd, yielding 4.4% annually.
payout ratio of -800.0%, indicating reliance on its balance sheet for dividend payments, although future projections suggest an expected payout ratio of 74.2% next year.
• Wells Fargo lowered its target price for Elme Communities from $19.00 to $18.00, maintaining an "equal weight" rating on the stock.

Elme Communities (NYSE:ELME - Get Free Report) announced a quarterly dividend on Tuesday, August 5th, Wall Street Journal reports. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, September 17th will be paid a dividend of 0.18 per share on Friday, October 3rd. This represents a c) annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.4%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, September 17th.

Elme Communities has a payout ratio of -800.0% indicating that 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 Elme Communities to earn $0.97 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $0.72 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 74.2%.

Elme Communities Price Performance

Elme Communities stock traded up $0.27 during trading hours on Thursday, hitting $16.52. 1,009,658 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 705,844. Elme Communities has a 12 month low of $13.95 and a 12 month high of $18.49. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.66, a quick ratio of 0.68 and a current ratio of 0.68. The business's 50-day moving average is $16.08 and its two-hundred day moving average is $16.10. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.46 billion, a P/E ratio of -110.23 and a beta of 0.98.

Elme Communities (NYSE:ELME - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, August 5th. The company reported $0.24 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.23 by $0.01. Elme Communities had a negative net margin of 5.78% and a negative return on equity of 1.32%. The business had revenue of $62.10 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $61.63 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $0.23 EPS. The firm's revenue was up 3.3% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts expect that Elme Communities will post 0.94 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Elme Communities Company Profile

Elme Communities is committed to elevating what home can be for middle-income renters by providing a higher level of quality, service, and experience. The Company is a multifamily real estate investment trust that owns and operates approximately 9,400 apartment homes in the Washington, DC metro and the Atlanta metro regions, and owns approximately 300,000 square feet of commercial space.