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

Whitestone REIT (NYSE:WSR - Get Free Report) announced a monthly dividend on Wednesday, June 11th, Wall Street Journal reports. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, September 2nd will be paid 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 yield of 4.36%. The ex-dividend date 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 Stock Performance

Shares of WSR stock traded down $0.05 on Thursday, reaching $12.39. The stock had a trading volume of 25,139 shares, compared to its average volume of 265,681. The stock has a market cap of $630.60 million, a P/E ratio of 30.22, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.13 and a beta of 0.92. 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 quick ratio of 2.17 and a current ratio of 2.17. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $12.69 and a 200 day simple moving average of $13.54.

Whitestone REIT (NYSE:WSR - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 30th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.25 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.24 by $0.01. Whitestone REIT had a return on equity of 4.98% and a net margin of 13.97%. The business had revenue of $37.40 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $38.95 million. Equities research analysts expect that Whitestone REIT will post 0.99 EPS for the current year.

Insider Activity at Whitestone REIT

In other news, Director Donald A. Miller purchased 5,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, May 28th. The stock was purchased at an average price of $12.35 per share, for a total transaction of $61,750.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director now owns 21,708 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $268,093.80. This trade represents a 29.93% increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. 3.20% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts have recently commented on WSR shares. Wall Street Zen assumed coverage on Whitestone REIT in a research report on Thursday, May 15th. They set a "hold" rating for the company. Truist Financial lowered their price target on shares of Whitestone REIT from $16.00 to $14.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a report on Monday, May 12th.

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.