Elme Communities (NYSE:ELME) Upgraded at Truist Financial

Truist Financial upgraded shares of Elme Communities (NYSE:ELME) from a hold rating to a buy rating in a research report report published on Friday, MarketBeat reports.

Other analysts have also issued research reports about the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered shares of Elme Communities from an “overweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and dropped their price objective for the stock from $19.00 to $18.00 in a report on Tuesday, December 17th. Wolfe Research assumed coverage on Elme Communities in a report on Monday, October 21st. They set a “peer perform” rating for the company.

Elme Communities Price Performance

Shares of ELME stock opened at $14.81 on Friday. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $15.77 and its 200 day simple moving average is $16.60. Elme Communities has a one year low of $12.74 and a one year high of $18.49. The firm has a market cap of $1.30 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -98.69 and a beta of 0.90. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.63, a current ratio of 0.55 and a quick ratio of 0.55.

Elme Communities (NYSE:ELME) last issued its earnings results on Monday, November 4th. The company reported ($0.03) EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.24 by ($0.27). The firm 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 1.17%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 7.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $0.24 EPS. On average, analysts expect that Elme Communities will post 0.94 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Elme Communities Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, January 6th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, December 19th were given a dividend of $0.18 per share. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, December 19th. This represents a $0.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.86%. Elme Communities’s payout ratio is -479.97%.

Institutional Trading of Elme Communities

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of ELME. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. increased its position in Elme Communities by 35.0% in the third quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 3,416 shares of the company’s stock worth $60,000 after purchasing an additional 885 shares during the period. KBC Group NV boosted its stake in shares of Elme Communities by 51.8% in the 3rd quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 4,526 shares of the company’s stock valued at $80,000 after purchasing an additional 1,544 shares during the last quarter. Point72 Asia Singapore Pte. Ltd. acquired a new stake in shares of Elme Communities during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $86,000. Blue Trust Inc. raised its stake in shares of Elme Communities by 888.4% during the third quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 10,675 shares of the company’s stock worth $188,000 after buying an additional 9,595 shares during the last quarter. Finally, M&T Bank Corp raised its stake in shares of Elme Communities by 9.5% during the third quarter. M&T Bank Corp now owns 11,525 shares of the company’s stock worth $203,000 after buying an additional 1,000 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 87.88% of the company’s stock.

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.