Short Interest in Alexandria Real Estate Equities, Inc. (NYSE:ARE) Drops By 7.8%

Alexandria Real Estate Equities, Inc. (NYSE:ARE) was the target of a large decline in short interest in the month of December. As of December 15th, there was short interest totalling 2,700,000 shares, a decline of 7.8% from the November 30th total of 2,930,000 shares. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 1,320,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 2.0 days.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Alexandria Real Estate Equities

Hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. State Street Corp lifted 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 purchasing an additional 112,864 shares in the last quarter. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board lifted its stake in Alexandria Real Estate Equities by 0.9% during the 2nd quarter. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board now owns 4,073,312 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $476,455,000 after acquiring an additional 35,216 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its holdings in Alexandria Real Estate Equities by 3.1% during the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 2,450,902 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $291,045,000 after acquiring an additional 72,934 shares during the period. Pathway Financial Advisers LLC grew its position in Alexandria Real Estate Equities by 11,449.8% in the 3rd quarter. Pathway Financial Advisers LLC now owns 1,423,630 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $169,056,000 after acquiring an additional 1,411,304 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Thrivent Financial for Lutherans increased its stake in Alexandria Real Estate Equities by 1.0% during the second quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans now owns 1,050,991 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $122,934,000 after purchasing an additional 10,576 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 96.54% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts recently weighed in on ARE shares. JMP Securities reduced their price target on Alexandria Real Estate Equities from $140.00 to $130.00 and set a “market outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, November 15th. Evercore ISI cut their target price on shares of Alexandria Real Estate Equities from $129.00 to $124.00 and set an “in-line” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, October 23rd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. downgraded shares of Alexandria Real Estate Equities from an “overweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and lowered their price target for the stock from $133.00 to $121.00 in a report on Wednesday, November 27th. Robert W. Baird cut their price objective on shares of Alexandria Real Estate Equities from $137.00 to $130.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Friday, November 8th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lowered shares of Alexandria Real Estate Equities from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and lowered their target price for the stock from $135.00 to $112.00 in a research note on Friday, November 15th. Nine equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $124.82.

Alexandria Real Estate Equities Price Performance

Shares of Alexandria Real Estate Equities stock traded down $0.25 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, reaching $97.55. 1,325,429 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,035,268. The company has a quick ratio of 0.20, a current ratio of 0.20 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.56. Alexandria Real Estate Equities has a fifty-two week low of $96.44 and a fifty-two week high of $131.36. The stock has a market capitalization of $17.05 billion, a PE ratio of 59.48, a PEG ratio of 3.87 and a beta of 1.15. The business has a 50-day moving average of $106.43 and a 200 day moving average of $114.31.

Alexandria Real Estate Equities (NYSE:ARE) last released its quarterly earnings data on Monday, October 21st. The real estate investment trust reported $0.96 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.38 by ($1.42). The business had revenue of $791.60 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $766.97 million. Alexandria Real Estate Equities had a net margin of 9.62% and a return on equity of 1.31%. The firm’s revenue was up 10.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $2.26 EPS. On average, analysts predict that Alexandria Real Estate Equities will post 9.47 EPS for the current year.

Alexandria Real Estate Equities Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, January 15th. Investors of record on Tuesday, December 31st will be given a dividend of $1.32 per share. This is a boost from Alexandria Real Estate Equities’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.30. This represents a $5.28 annualized dividend and a yield of 5.41%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, December 31st. Alexandria Real Estate Equities’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 321.95%.

Alexandria Real Estate Equities declared that its Board of Directors has authorized a stock buyback program on Monday, December 9th that authorizes the company to buyback $500.00 million in 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 an indication that the company’s board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

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.