Elme Communities (ELME) to Issue Quarterly Dividend of $0.18 on April 3rd

Elme Communities (NYSE:ELME) declared a quarterly dividend on Thursday, February 13th, Wall Street Journal reports. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, March 19th will be paid a dividend of 0.18 per share on Thursday, April 3rd. This represents a $0.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.18%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, March 19th.

Elme Communities has increased its dividend payment by an average of 154.1% per year over the last three years. Elme Communities has a dividend payout ratio of -720.0% 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 $0.97 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

NYSE:ELME opened at $17.24 on Monday. The firm has a market cap of $1.52 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -123.11 and a beta of 0.86. Elme Communities has a one year low of $12.81 and a one year high of $18.49. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $15.91 and its two-hundred day moving average is $16.49. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.65, a quick ratio of 0.55 and a current ratio of 0.58.

Elme Communities (NYSE:ELME) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 13th. The company reported $0.23 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.03) by $0.26. Elme Communities had a negative return on equity of 1.18% and a negative net margin of 5.42%. Research analysts expect that Elme Communities will post 0.94 EPS for the current year.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages recently commented on ELME. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut shares of Elme Communities from an “overweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and lowered their price objective for the company from $19.00 to $18.00 in a research note on Tuesday, December 17th. Truist Financial upgraded shares of Elme Communities from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, January 17th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on Elme Communities from $17.00 to $19.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 20th.

About Elme Communities

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.