Maxim analyst Michael Diana noted that a downgrade from a competing firm raised many issues about Whitestone REIT, but he disagrees with its conclusions. The company's recent acquisition of two shopping centers in Dallas and Houston will probably be mildly dilutive in year one, but Diana expects core FFO accretion in 2018 and views Whitestone's combined stock offering/acquisitions as a long-term positive for shareholders, he stated. He believes Whitestone's senior management has done an "outstanding" job with acquisitions and reiterates his Buy rating and $20 price target on the stock. The Fly notes that Baird analyst RJ Milligan downgraded Whitestone REIT to Underperform from Neutral yesterday.

Whitestone REIT shareholder Erez Asset Management released a presentation outlining the "need for change" to Whitestone's Board of Trustees and detailing how Erez's trustee nominees, Catherine Clark and Bruce Schanzer, "can help to improve the company's performance and restore value for shareholders". Bruce Schanzer, Chairman and Chief Investment Officer of Erez Asset Management, commented, "We believe the blame for Whitestone's significant underperformance and persistent undervaluation lies squarely with the current Board, which lacks the real estate experience, shareholder alignment, and fiduciary mindset necessary to effectively steward the Company in the best interest of shareholders. By detailing the current Board's numerous capital allocation, corporate administration and governance failures, our presentation demonstrates the need for change at Whitestone and highlights how our nominees can help. We look forward to speaking directly with Whitestone shareholders about these issues in the coming weeks." Erez encourages Whitestone REIT shareholders to review the presentation at its webpage and to vote "for" Catherine Clark and Bruce Schanzer and "withhold" from David Taylor and Nandita Berry.