Whitestone REIT (NYSE:WSR) Raises Dividend to $0.05 Per Share

Whitestone REIT (NYSE:WSR) announced a dividend on Wednesday, December 4th,NASDAQ Dividends reports. Shareholders of record on Thursday, January 2nd will be given a dividend of 0.045 per share by the real estate investment trust on Tuesday, January 14th. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, January 2nd. This is an increase from Whitestone REIT’s previous dividend of $0.04.

Whitestone REIT has raised its dividend by an average of 10.1% per year over the last three years. Whitestone REIT has a dividend payout ratio of 51.0% indicating that its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Analysts expect Whitestone REIT to earn $1.05 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $0.50 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 47.6%.

Whitestone REIT Price Performance

Shares of WSR stock traded up $0.17 during trading hours on Thursday, reaching $14.56. 224,245 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 314,724. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.49, a current ratio of 2.17 and a quick ratio of 2.17. The company has a market cap of $737.46 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 35.51, a P/E/G ratio of 2.43 and a beta of 1.26. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $14.18 and its two-hundred day moving average is $13.61. Whitestone REIT has a fifty-two week low of $10.77 and a fifty-two week high of $15.01.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

WSR has been the topic of several research reports. Truist Financial upped their price target on Whitestone REIT from $15.00 to $16.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, November 29th. JMP Securities reissued a “market outperform” rating and set a $15.00 price objective on shares of Whitestone REIT in a report on Thursday, September 19th. Finally, StockNews.com assumed coverage on shares of Whitestone REIT in a research note on Thursday, November 28th. They issued a “hold” rating on the stock. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $15.33.

Whitestone REIT Company Profile

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.