Lecap Asset Management Ltd. Acquires New Shares in Alexandria Real Estate Equities, Inc. (NYSE:ARE)

Lecap Asset Management Ltd. bought a new position in Alexandria Real Estate Equities, Inc. (NYSE:ARE) in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm bought 28,194 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock, valued at approximately $2,750,000.

Several other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of ARE. Catalyst Capital Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Alexandria Real Estate Equities during the third quarter valued at $25,000. Ashton Thomas Securities LLC bought a new position in Alexandria Real Estate Equities during the 3rd quarter valued at about $30,000. Venturi Wealth Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Alexandria Real Estate Equities by 144.0% during the 3rd quarter. Venturi Wealth Management LLC now owns 305 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $36,000 after acquiring an additional 180 shares during the last quarter. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB purchased a new stake in shares of Alexandria Real Estate Equities during the 3rd quarter valued at about $43,000. Finally, Spire Wealth Management grew its stake in shares of Alexandria Real Estate Equities by 72.5% in the fourth quarter. Spire Wealth Management now owns 595 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $58,000 after acquiring an additional 250 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 96.54% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

ARE has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. downgraded shares of Alexandria Real Estate Equities from an “overweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and lowered their price objective for the company from $133.00 to $121.00 in a research report on Wednesday, November 27th. JMP Securities restated a “market outperform” rating and issued a $130.00 price target on shares of Alexandria Real Estate Equities in a research note on Wednesday, January 29th. Evercore ISI cut their price objective on 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. Royal Bank of Canada lowered their target price on Alexandria Real Estate Equities from $125.00 to $114.00 and set a “sector perform” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, December 17th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft downgraded Alexandria Real Estate Equities from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and cut their price target for the company from $135.00 to $112.00 in a research note on Friday, November 15th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have assigned a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $121.30.

Alexandria Real Estate Equities Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:ARE opened at $96.49 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.55, a current ratio of 0.21 and a quick ratio of 0.21. Alexandria Real Estate Equities, Inc. has a 1-year low of $93.80 and a 1-year high of $130.14. The company has a market capitalization of $16.70 billion, a P/E ratio of 53.61, a P/E/G ratio of 3.69 and a beta of 1.16. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $100.38 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $110.67.

Alexandria Real Estate Equities (NYSE:ARE) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Monday, January 27th. The real estate investment trust reported $2.39 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.91 by $1.48. Alexandria Real Estate Equities had a net margin of 10.36% and a return on equity of 1.43%. Research analysts expect that Alexandria Real Estate Equities, Inc. will post 9.34 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Alexandria Real Estate Equities declared that its board has approved a stock buyback plan 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 reacquire up to 2.7% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback plans are usually a sign that the company’s leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

Alexandria Real Estate Equities Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, January 15th. Investors of record on Tuesday, December 31st were given a $1.32 dividend. This represents a $5.28 annualized dividend and a yield of 5.47%. The ex-dividend date was 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 293.33%.

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.