Maxim Group Keeps Their Buy Rating on Whitestone REIT

Maxim Group analyst Michael Diana reiterated a Buy rating on Whitestone REIT (NYSE: WSR) today and set a price target of $16. The company’s shares closed yesterday at $11.27.

Diana wrote:

“WSR reported 1Q18 core FFO of $0.31 versus its dividend of $0.285. Management maintained its 2018 core FFO guidance of $1.19-$1.24; we are maintaining our estimate of $1.24, at the high-end of the range. In our view, WSR has a sound business model, excellent management team, and sufficient earnings power to cover the dividend (which is now yielding over 10%), and we expect 2019 to be an even stronger year once WSR’s Pillarstone position is disposed of and other development projects come fully on line. We reiterate our Buy rating and $16 price target; our price target equates to 12.9x our 2018 core FFO estimate, a 15% discount to peers.”

According to TipRanks.com, Diana is a 5-star analyst with an average return of 6.9% and a 63.5% success rate. Diana covers the Financial sector, focusing on stocks such as Manhattan Bridge Capital Inc, Arlington Asset Investment, and Westamerica Bancorporation.

Whitestone REIT has an analyst consensus of Moderate Buy, with a price target consensus of $13.

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Whitestone REIT’s market cap is currently $442M and has a P/E ratio of 51.23. The company has a Price to Book ratio of 1.27.

Based on the recent corporate insider activity of 43 insiders, corporate insider sentiment is positive on the stock. This means that over the past quarter there has been an increase of insiders buying their shares of WSR in relation to earlier this year.

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Whitestone REIT is a real estate company, which acquires, owns, manages, develops, and redevelops commercial properties in markets in major metropolitan areas. The company was founded on August 20, 1998 and is headquartered in Houston, TX.