Elme Communities to Issue Quarterly Dividend of $0.18 (NYSE:ELME)

Elme Communities (NYSE:ELME) declared a quarterly dividend on Monday, November 4th, Zacks reports. Investors of record on Thursday, December 19th will be given a dividend of 0.18 per share on Monday, January 6th. This represents a $0.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.14%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, December 19th.

Elme Communities has increased its dividend by an average of 30.8% per year over the last three years. Elme Communities has a dividend payout ratio of -654.5% meaning the company cannot currently cover its dividend with earnings alone and is relying on its balance sheet to cover its dividend payments. Analysts expect Elme Communities to earn $0.95 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 75.8%.

Elme Communities Price Performance

Shares of NYSE ELME traded up $0.49 during trading on Wednesday, hitting $17.39. The company had a trading volume of 93,538 shares, compared to its average volume of 579,152. Elme Communities has a 52 week low of $12.74 and a 52 week high of $18.49. The business’s 50-day moving average is $17.38 and its 200 day moving average is $16.46. The company has a market cap of $1.53 billion, a P/E ratio of -112.63 and a beta of 0.89. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.61, a quick ratio of 0.55 and a current ratio of 0.55.

Elme Communities (NYSE:ELME) last released its quarterly earnings results on Monday, November 4th. The company reported ($0.03) earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.24 by ($0.27). The company had revenue of $61.06 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $60.31 million. Elme Communities had a negative net margin of 5.51% and a negative return on equity of 1.16%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 7.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $0.24 EPS. Equities research analysts predict that Elme Communities will post 0.94 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts have recently issued reports on ELME shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price target on shares of Elme Communities from $17.00 to $19.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, September 16th. Wolfe Research began coverage on shares of Elme Communities in a research note on Monday, October 21st. They set a “peer perform” rating on the stock. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price on Elme Communities from $14.00 to $17.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, September 13th.

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.