Home Properties Halves First-Quarter Profit

Home Properties(HME Quote) said on Wednesday that it more than halved its first-quarter profit and declared a quarterly dividend.

During the quarter, the company reported earnings of $15.1 million, or 33 cents a share, compared with $36.3 million, or 80 cents a share, in the year-ago period.

Funds from operations, a key gauge of the real-estate industry, were $35.9 million, or 79 cents a share, compared to $35.8 million, or 78 cents a share, last year.

The company declared a regular cash dividend of 67 cents a share for the quarter ended March 31, payable on May 27 to shareholders of record on May 15.

Home Properties said it expects full-year earnings in the range of $3.07 to $3.25 a share, from previous guidance of $3.04 to $3.28 a share.