Elme Communities (ELME) To Go Ex-Dividend on March 19th

Elme Communities (NYSE:ELME) announced a quarterly dividend on Friday, February 14th,Wall Street Journal reports. Investors of record on Wednesday, March 19th will be given a dividend of 0.18 per share on Thursday, April 3rd. This represents a $0.72 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.17%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, March 19th.

Elme Communities has raised its dividend payment by an average of 154.1% annually over the last three years. Elme Communities has a payout ratio of -720.0% indicating that 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 $0.94 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 76.6%.

Elme Communities Price Performance

NYSE:ELME opened at $17.28 on Friday. Elme Communities has a one year low of $12.74 and a one year high of $18.49. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.63, a quick ratio of 0.55 and a current ratio of 0.55. The stock has a market cap of $1.52 billion, a PE ratio of -115.21 and a beta of 0.91. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $15.25 and a 200 day moving average price of $16.47.

Elme Communities (NYSE:ELME) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 13th. The company reported $0.23 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of ($0.03) by $0.26. Elme Communities had a negative return on equity of 1.17% and a negative net margin of 5.51%. Equities research analysts expect that Elme Communities will post 0.94 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have issued reports on ELME. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut Elme Communities from an “overweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and cut their target price for the stock from $19.00 to $18.00 in a research note on Tuesday, December 17th. Wolfe Research began coverage on Elme Communities in a research note on Monday, October 21st. They set a “peer perform” rating for the company. Finally, Truist Financial raised Elme Communities from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, January 17th.

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.