Alexandria Real Estate Equities (NYSE:ARE) Shares Down 3.9% – Time to Sell?

Alexandria Real Estate Equities, Inc. (NYSE:ARE)’s stock price was down 3.9% during mid-day trading on Tuesday . The stock traded as low as $99.19 and last traded at $98.09. Approximately 162,206 shares changed hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 87% from the average daily volume of 1,269,505 shares. The stock had previously closed at $102.11.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts have issued reports on the company. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lowered Alexandria Real Estate Equities from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and dropped their price objective for the company from $135.00 to $112.00 in a research note on Friday, November 15th. Robert W. Baird cut their price target on 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. Wedbush reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $110.00 price objective (down from $120.00) on shares of Alexandria Real Estate Equities in a report on Friday, December 6th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut shares of Alexandria Real Estate Equities from an “overweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and cut their target price for the stock from $133.00 to $121.00 in a research note on Wednesday, November 27th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada decreased their price target on shares of Alexandria Real Estate Equities from $125.00 to $114.00 and set a “sector perform” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, December 17th. Nine investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Alexandria Real Estate Equities presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $121.90.

Alexandria Real Estate Equities Price Performance

The company has a quick ratio of 0.20, a current ratio of 0.20 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.56. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $102.07 and its 200 day moving average price is $112.07. The company has a market capitalization of $16.91 billion, a P/E ratio of 58.95, a PEG ratio of 3.85 and a beta of 1.16.

Alexandria Real Estate Equities (NYSE:ARE) last issued 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 1.31% and a net margin of 9.62%. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Alexandria Real Estate Equities, Inc. will post 9.47 EPS for the current year.

Alexandria Real Estate Equities Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, January 15th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, December 31st were given a dividend of $1.32 per share. This is an increase from Alexandria Real Estate Equities’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.30. This represents a $5.28 annualized dividend and a yield of 5.46%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, December 31st. Alexandria Real Estate Equities’s payout ratio is currently 321.95%.

Alexandria Real Estate Equities announced that its Board of Directors has authorized a share buyback plan on Monday, December 9th that allows the company to repurchase $500.00 million in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization allows the real estate investment trust to buy up to 2.7% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are generally an indication that the company’s board believes its stock is undervalued.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Fulton Bank N.A. grew its holdings in shares of Alexandria Real Estate Equities by 77.7% during the fourth quarter. Fulton Bank N.A. now owns 16,165 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $1,577,000 after purchasing an additional 7,070 shares during the last quarter. CIBC Asset Management Inc grew its holdings in Alexandria Real Estate Equities by 67.3% during the 3rd quarter. CIBC Asset Management Inc now owns 37,276 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $4,427,000 after acquiring an additional 14,992 shares during the last quarter. CCLA Investment Management increased its position in Alexandria Real Estate Equities by 4.0% in the 4th quarter. CCLA Investment Management now owns 841,435 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $82,023,000 after acquiring an additional 32,367 shares during the period. Pathway Financial Advisers LLC raised its stake in shares of Alexandria Real Estate Equities by 11,449.8% during the third 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 during the last quarter. Finally, Leibman Financial Services Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Alexandria Real Estate Equities by 21.4% during the fourth quarter. Leibman Financial Services Inc. now owns 41,580 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $4,056,000 after purchasing an additional 7,322 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 96.54% of the company’s stock.

About Alexandria Real Estate Equities

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.