Alexandria Real Estate Equities (NYSE:ARE) Hits New 12-Month Low After Analyst Downgrade

Alexandria Real Estate Equities, Inc. (NYSE:ARE - Get Free Report) shares hit a new 52-week low on Wednesday after Royal Bank of Canada lowered their price target on the stock from $125.00 to $114.00. Royal Bank of Canada currently has a sector perform rating on the stock. Alexandria Real Estate Equities traded as low as $99.96 and last traded at $100.00, with a volume of 888236 shares changing hands. The stock had previously closed at $102.31.

A number of other equities analysts have also weighed in on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered shares of Alexandria Real Estate Equities from an "overweight" rating to a "neutral" rating and reduced their target price for the stock from $133.00 to $121.00 in a research note on Wednesday, November 27th. BMO Capital Markets raised Alexandria Real Estate Equities to a "hold" rating in a research report on Wednesday, September 25th. JMP Securities decreased their price objective on Alexandria Real Estate Equities from $140.00 to $130.00 and set a "market outperform" rating for the company in a report on Friday, November 15th. Wedbush restated an "outperform" rating and issued a $110.00 target price (down previously from $120.00) on shares of Alexandria Real Estate Equities in a research note on Friday, December 6th. Finally, 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 for the company in a research note on Wednesday, October 23rd. Nine analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $124.82.

Institutional Trading of Alexandria Real Estate Equities

Large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Pathway Financial Advisers LLC raised its holdings in shares of 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 purchasing an additional 1,411,304 shares during the period. National Bank of Canada FI raised its stake in Alexandria Real Estate Equities by 350.0% in the third quarter. National Bank of Canada FI now owns 341,357 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $40,536,000 after buying an additional 265,508 shares during the period. Raymond James & Associates lifted its position in shares of Alexandria Real Estate Equities by 501.1% in the third quarter. Raymond James & Associates now owns 290,857 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $34,539,000 after buying an additional 242,466 shares during the last quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets lifted its position in shares of Alexandria Real Estate Equities by 114.9% in the third quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 435,416 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $51,706,000 after buying an additional 232,817 shares during the last quarter. Finally, KBC Group NV boosted its stake in shares of Alexandria Real Estate Equities by 315.9% during the 3rd quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 169,350 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $20,110,000 after acquiring an additional 128,634 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 96.54% of the company's stock.

Alexandria Real Estate Equities Price Performance

The business has a fifty day moving average of $110.67 and a two-hundred day moving average of $115.53. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.56, a quick ratio of 0.20 and a current ratio of 0.20. The firm has a market capitalization of $17.11 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 59.71, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.87 and a beta of 1.14.

Alexandria Real Estate Equities (NYSE:ARE - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Monday, October 21st. The real estate investment trust reported $0.96 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.38 by ($1.42). The company 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%. Alexandria Real Estate Equities's revenue for the quarter was up 10.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $2.26 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts predict that Alexandria Real Estate Equities, Inc. will post 9.47 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Alexandria Real Estate Equities Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, January 15th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, December 31st will be issued a dividend of $1.32 per share. This represents a $5.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 5.39%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, December 31st. This is a boost from Alexandria Real Estate Equities's previous quarterly dividend of $1.30. Alexandria Real Estate Equities's payout ratio is currently 321.95%.

Alexandria Real Estate Equities announced that its board has authorized a stock buyback program on Monday, December 9th that permits the company to buyback $500.00 million in shares. This buyback authorization permits the real estate investment trust to purchase up to 2.7% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are generally an indication that the company's management 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.