Whitestone REIT (WSR) will cut its monthly dividend by 63.2 percent to 3.5 cents per share in 2020 because of the COVID-19 pandemic. The company started paying a $0.095 per share monthly dividend in 2010 and had never increased its dividend.

The next dividend will be paid on April 15, 2020 to shareholders of record on April 7, 2020. A new annual dividend rate of 42 cents per share yields 6.4% at a stock price of $6.57.

In the company's press release Whitestone states that it wants to conserve additional liquidity by reducing its dividend in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. The dividend reduction will result in over $30 million of annualized cash savings. The Board will regularly reassess the dividend, particularly as there is more clarity on the duration and severity of the national COVID-19 crisis and as business conditions improve.

Whitestone is a community-centered retail REIT that acquires, owns, manages, develops and redevelops neighborhood, community and lifestyle retail centers. Whitestone's properties are primarily located in business-friendly Phoenix, Austin, Dallas-Fort Worth, Houston and San Antonio. The company has paid a dividend every year since 2010.