Elme Communities (NYSE:ELME) Short Interest Update

Elme Communities (NYSE:ELME - Get Free Report) was the target of a significant drop in short interest during the month of March. As of March 31st, there was short interest totalling 1,000,000 shares, a drop of 7.4% from the March 15th total of 1,080,000 shares. Approximately 1.2% of the shares of the stock are short sold. Based on an average trading volume of 688,200 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 1.5 days.

Elme Communities Price Performance

NYSE ELME traded down $0.28 on Tuesday, reaching $14.36. 957,256 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 701,020. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.59, a current ratio of 0.67 and a quick ratio of 0.67. Elme Communities has a 12 month low of $12.44 and a 12 month high of $18.15. The stock has a market cap of $1.26 billion, a PE ratio of -23.54 and a beta of 0.91. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $13.77 and a 200 day simple moving average of $13.87.

Elme Communities Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, April 3rd. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, March 20th were issued a $0.18 dividend. This represents a $0.72 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 5.01%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, March 19th. Elme Communities's dividend payout ratio is -118.03%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. lifted its stake in Elme Communities by 9.3% in the fourth quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 12,995 shares of the company's stock worth $190,000 after acquiring an additional 1,110 shares during the period. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD lifted its position in Elme Communities by 4.6% during the fourth quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 51,388 shares of the company's stock valued at $751,000 after buying an additional 2,280 shares during the period. Legal & General Group Plc lifted its position in Elme Communities by 1.4% during the fourth quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 806,223 shares of the company's stock valued at $11,771,000 after buying an additional 11,056 shares during the period. Barclays PLC lifted its position in Elme Communities by 115.2% during the fourth quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 174,462 shares of the company's stock valued at $2,547,000 after buying an additional 93,380 shares during the period. Finally, Public Sector Pension Investment Board lifted its position in Elme Communities by 67.9% during the fourth quarter. Public Sector Pension Investment Board now owns 182,271 shares of the company's stock valued at $2,661,000 after buying an additional 73,723 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 87.88% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Separately, JPMorgan Chase & Co. upgraded shares of Elme Communities from a "neutral" rating to an "overweight" rating and increased their price target for the company from $16.00 to $18.00 in a research report on Monday, December 18th.

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.