Chicago Atlantic Real Estate Finance (NASDAQ:REFI) Announces Quarterly Earnings Results, Misses Estimates By $0.01 EPS

Chicago Atlantic Real Estate Finance (NASDAQ:REFI) announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday. The company reported $0.49 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.50 by ($0.01), FiscalAI reports. The company had revenue of $13.66 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $14.95 million. Chicago Atlantic Real Estate Finance had a net margin of 51.08% and a return on equity of 12.33%.

Here are the key takeaways from Chicago Atlantic Real Estate Finance’s conference call:

• Distributable earnings were $0.49 per fully diluted share, above the $0.47 quarterly dividend; the company said it has now paid that dividend for 18 consecutive quarters.
• The portfolio totaled $527.7 million across 28 borrowers, with a 14.8% weighted-average yield to maturity. Floating-rate loans make up 64% of the portfolio, and management estimates each 25-basis-point rate increase would add about $0.015 per share to quarterly distributable earnings.
• The proposed merger with LIEN, which remains subject to SEC review and stockholder approvals, is now expected to close in 2027. Management cited potential benefits from greater scale and a broader investment mandate, while noting those benefits are not assured.
• Liquidity is tight: the company reported about $15.2 million available on its revolving facility and approximately $12 million of total liquidity after estimated liabilities and anticipated fundings, and expects originations to slow in the fourth quarter.
• Non-accruals were 3.1% of the portfolio, down from 3.7% at the prior quarter-end mainly because the portfolio grew; the amount of non-accruals was unchanged. Adjusted book value per share slipped to $14.12 from $14.15.

Chicago Atlantic Real Estate Finance Stock Down 5.0%

Chicago Atlantic Real Estate Finance stock opened at $8.80 on Thursday. Chicago Atlantic Real Estate Finance has a 52-week low of $8.59 and a 52-week high of $13.49. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $9.85 and its 200 day moving average is $10.99. The company has a market cap of $225.46 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 7.33 and a beta of 0.28.

Chicago Atlantic Real Estate Finance Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, October 15th. Investors of record on Wednesday, September 30th were paid a dividend of $0.47 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, September 30th. This represents a $1.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 21.4%. Chicago Atlantic Real Estate Finance’s dividend payout ratio is presently 156.67%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

REFI has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Atlantic Securities set a $16.00 price objective on Chicago Atlantic Real Estate Finance in a research report on Wednesday, August 12th. Citizens Jmp reduced their target price on Chicago Atlantic Real Estate Finance from $18.00 to $16.00 and set a “market outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, August 12th. Zacks Research downgraded Chicago Atlantic Real Estate Finance from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 4th. Citigroup reissued a “market outperform” rating on shares of Chicago Atlantic Real Estate Finance in a research note on Wednesday, August 12th. Finally, Weiss Ratings lowered Chicago Atlantic Real Estate Finance from a “hold (c-)” rating to a “sell (d+)” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 8th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, two have issued a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $16.00.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Chicago Atlantic Real Estate Finance news, CEO Anthony Cappell acquired 45,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, August 17th. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $10.40 per share, with a total value of $468,000.00. Following the purchase, the chief executive officer directly owned 466,706 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,853,742.40. This represents a 10.67% increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Peter Sack bought 3,500 shares of Chicago Atlantic Real Estate Finance stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, August 19th. The stock was acquired at an average price of $10.45 per share, for a total transaction of $36,575.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the chief executive officer owned 123,356 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,289,070.20. The trade was a 2.92% increase in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this purchase provides additional information. Insiders acquired 122,856 shares of company stock valued at $1,287,094 in the last three months. Corporate insiders own 6.50% of the company’s stock.

About Chicago Atlantic Real Estate Finance

Chicago Atlantic Real Estate Finance, Inc. is a commercial mortgage real estate investment trust focused on providing debt capital to businesses in the U.S. cannabis industry. The company primarily serves state-licensed cannabis operators and related businesses. Its financing may include senior secured loans, bridge loans and other structured credit arrangements, often backed by commercial real estate or other borrower assets. The company is externally managed by an affiliate of Chicago Atlantic, an investment firm focused on the cannabis sector.