Alexandria Real Estate Equities, Inc. (NYSE:ARE) Sees Large Decline in Short Interest

Alexandria Real Estate Equities, Inc. (NYSE:ARE) saw a significant drop in short interest during the month of July. As of July 31st, there was short interest totalling 3,470,000 shares, a drop of 13.3% from the July 15th total of 4,000,000 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 856,900 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 4.0 days.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have commented on ARE. Jefferies Financial Group cut shares of Alexandria Real Estate Equities from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and cut their price target for the stock from $136.00 to $127.00 in a research note on Friday, August 2nd. Royal Bank of Canada dropped their price objective on shares of Alexandria Real Estate Equities from $135.00 to $130.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Monday, August 5th. Evercore ISI lowered shares of Alexandria Real Estate Equities from an “outperform” rating to an “inline” rating and dropped their price objective for the stock from $133.00 to $126.00 in a report on Thursday, July 25th. JMP Securities reaffirmed a “market outperform” rating and set a $140.00 price objective on shares of Alexandria Real Estate Equities in a report on Tuesday, July 23rd. Finally, Wedbush lowered shares of Alexandria Real Estate Equities from an “outperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and dropped their price objective for the stock from $140.00 to $130.00 in a report on Wednesday, July 24th. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Alexandria Real Estate Equities presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $131.22.

Insider Activity

In related news, major shareholder Real Estate Equitie Alexandria sold 150,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, June 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $4.21, for a total value of $631,500.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 6,005,077 shares in the company, valued at $25,281,374.17. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. 1.15% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Alexandria Real Estate Equities

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. increased its stake in shares of Alexandria Real Estate Equities by 14.1% during the 1st quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 281,833 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $36,331,000 after purchasing an additional 34,854 shares during the last quarter. Hsbc Holdings PLC lifted its stake in Alexandria Real Estate Equities by 18.3% in the 4th quarter. Hsbc Holdings PLC now owns 545,069 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $69,245,000 after purchasing an additional 84,479 shares during the last quarter. CANADA LIFE ASSURANCE Co lifted its stake in Alexandria Real Estate Equities by 2.9% in the 1st quarter. CANADA LIFE ASSURANCE Co now owns 321,624 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $41,482,000 after purchasing an additional 9,187 shares during the last quarter. Bluefin Capital Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Alexandria Real Estate Equities during the fourth quarter valued at $838,000. Finally, Norden Group LLC acquired a new stake in Alexandria Real Estate Equities in the first quarter valued at $963,000. 96.54% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Alexandria Real Estate Equities Trading Up 0.8 %

Shares of NYSE ARE traded up $0.94 during midday trading on Monday, reaching $115.63. 627,733 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 921,673. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $117.49 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $119.80. The company has a market capitalization of $20.22 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 108.07, a P/E/G ratio of 4.00 and a beta of 1.15. Alexandria Real Estate Equities has a 12 month low of $90.73 and a 12 month high of $135.45. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.55, a current ratio of 0.23 and a quick ratio of 0.23.

Alexandria Real Estate Equities (NYSE:ARE) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Monday, July 22nd. The real estate investment trust reported $0.25 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.34 by ($2.09). The firm had revenue of $766.70 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $775.03 million. Alexandria Real Estate Equities had a return on equity of 0.68% and a net margin of 5.09%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 7.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $2.24 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Alexandria Real Estate Equities will post 9.48 EPS for the current year.

Alexandria Real Estate Equities Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, July 15th. Shareholders of record on Friday, June 28th were given a dividend of $1.30 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, June 28th. This is a boost from Alexandria Real Estate Equities’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.27. This represents a $5.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.50%. Alexandria Real Estate Equities’s payout ratio is 485.98%.

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.