Alexandria Real Estate Equities, Inc. (NYSE:ARE) Receives Average Rating of “Hold” from Analysts

Alexandria Real Estate Equities, Inc. (NYSE:ARE) has earned a consensus recommendation of “Hold” from the eleven ratings firms that are currently covering the stock, MarketBeat.com reports. Nine analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and two have assigned a buy recommendation to the company. The average 1-year price target among brokers that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $121.30.

A number of research firms recently weighed in on ARE. StockNews.com raised Alexandria Real Estate Equities from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 12th. Robert W. Baird cut their target price on shares of Alexandria Real Estate Equities from $137.00 to $130.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, November 8th. Evercore ISI decreased their price target on shares of Alexandria Real Estate Equities from $129.00 to $124.00 and set an “in-line” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, October 23rd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut shares of Alexandria Real Estate Equities from an “overweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and lowered their price target for the company from $133.00 to $121.00 in a report on Wednesday, November 27th. Finally, JMP Securities restated a “market outperform” rating and set a $130.00 price objective on shares of Alexandria Real Estate Equities in a report on Wednesday, January 29th.

Alexandria Real Estate Equities Stock Performance

Shares of ARE stock opened at $95.26 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.55, a current ratio of 0.21 and a quick ratio of 0.21. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $98.29 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $109.19. The stock has a market cap of $16.49 billion, a P/E ratio of 52.92, a P/E/G ratio of 3.90 and a beta of 1.16. Alexandria Real Estate Equities has a one year low of $93.25 and a one year high of $130.14.

Alexandria Real Estate Equities (NYSE:ARE) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Monday, January 27th. The real estate investment trust reported $2.39 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.91 by $1.48. Alexandria Real Estate Equities had a return on equity of 1.43% and a net margin of 10.36%. As a group, equities analysts predict that Alexandria Real Estate Equities will post 9.33 EPS for the current year.

Alexandria Real Estate Equities announced that its Board of Directors has initiated a share buyback program on Monday, December 9th that authorizes the company to buyback $500.00 million in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the real estate investment trust to reacquire up to 2.7% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are usually a sign that the company’s board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

Alexandria Real Estate Equities Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, January 15th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, December 31st were given a $1.32 dividend. This represents a $5.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 5.54%. This is an increase from Alexandria Real Estate Equities’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.30. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, December 31st. Alexandria Real Estate Equities’s payout ratio is presently 293.33%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Alexandria Real Estate Equities

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of Alexandria Real Estate Equities in the fourth quarter worth $1,605,426,000. State Street Corp grew its stake in Alexandria Real Estate Equities by 1.1% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 10,585,038 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $1,270,634,000 after buying an additional 112,864 shares in the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased its holdings in Alexandria Real Estate Equities by 212.9% in the 4th quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 8,265,880 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $806,337,000 after buying an additional 5,624,163 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its position in shares of Alexandria Real Estate Equities by 2.4% in the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 4,135,591 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $402,450,000 after buying an additional 96,771 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Capital World Investors bought a new stake in shares of Alexandria Real Estate Equities during the 4th quarter worth approximately $326,959,000. 96.54% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Alexandria Real Estate Equities Company Profile

Alexandria Real Estate Equities, Inc (NYSE: ARE), an S&P 500 company, is a best-in-class, mission-driven life science REIT making a positive and lasting impact on the world. As the pioneer of the life science real estate niche since our founding in 1994, Alexandria is the preeminent and longest-tenured owner, operator, and developer of collaborative life science, agtech, and advanced technology mega campuses in AAA innovation cluster locations, including Greater Boston, the San Francisco Bay Area, New York City, San Diego, Seattle, Maryland, and Research Triangle.