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

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

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Alexandria Real Estate Equities

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of ARE. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC boosted its stake in shares of Alexandria Real Estate Equities by 2.4% during the 2nd quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 21,814 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $2,552,000 after buying an additional 508 shares during the period. UMB Bank n.a. boosted its position in Alexandria Real Estate Equities by 132.8% during the second quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 270 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $32,000 after purchasing an additional 154 shares during the last quarter. Hantz Financial Services Inc. purchased a new position in Alexandria Real Estate Equities in the second quarter valued at about $433,000. Rothschild Investment LLC acquired a new position in Alexandria Real Estate Equities in the 2nd quarter worth about $33,000. Finally, Commonwealth Equity Services LLC raised its stake in shares of Alexandria Real Estate Equities by 76.0% during the 2nd quarter. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC now owns 14,883 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $1,741,000 after purchasing an additional 6,425 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 96.54% of the company’s stock.

Alexandria Real Estate Equities Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:ARE traded down $0.25 during trading hours on Wednesday, hitting $97.55. 1,325,429 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,035,268. Alexandria Real Estate Equities has a 52 week low of $96.44 and a 52 week high of $131.36. The company has a market cap of $17.05 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 59.48, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.87 and a beta of 1.15. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $106.43 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $114.31. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.56, a quick ratio of 0.20 and a current ratio of 0.20.

Alexandria Real Estate Equities (NYSE:ARE) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Monday, October 21st. The real estate investment trust reported $0.96 earnings per share (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 the consensus estimate 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 quarterly revenue was up 10.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $2.26 EPS. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Alexandria Real Estate Equities will post 9.47 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Alexandria Real Estate Equities announced that its Board of Directors has approved a share buyback program on Monday, December 9th that allows the company to buyback $500.00 million in shares. This buyback authorization allows the real estate investment trust to purchase up to 2.7% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are often a sign that the company’s management believes its stock is undervalued.

Alexandria Real Estate Equities Increases Dividend

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

Analyst Ratings Changes

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

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.