Alexandria Real Estate (ARE) Announces Hike In Q2 Dividend

Alexandria Real Estate Equities, Inc. (NYSE:ARE) announced second-quarter 2017 cash dividend of 86 cents per share. This marks a sequential increase of 4% and year-over-year rise of 8% in dividend payment. The increased dividend will be paid on Jul 17 to shareholders on record as of Jun 30.

The hike in dividend is in sync with the Pasadena, CA-based real estate investment trust’s (REIT) strategy of sharing growth in cash flows from operating activities with the stockholders, while also retaining a significant portion for reinvestment. Also, as of Mar 31, 2017, the funds from operations (FFO) payout ratio remain favorably low at 57%.

Notably, Alexandria Real Estate is an urban office REIT, which is focused on collaborative life science and technology campuses in key locations, including Greater Boston, San Francisco, New York City, San Diego, Seattle, Maryland, and Research Triangle Park. In the first-quarter 2017, the company reported FFO per share of $1.48, beating the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $1.46.

Shares of Alexandria Real Estate have outperformed the Zacks categorized REIT and Equity Trust – Other industry in the last six months. Shares of the company have returned 8.4%, while the industry grew 5.5%. In the last 30 days, both its second-quarter and full-year 2017 FFO per share estimates moved up.



Currently, Alexandria Real Estate carries a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold).

Investors interested in the REIT space, may consider better-ranked stocks like DiamondRock Hospitality Company (NYSE:DRH) , Gaming and Leisure Properties, Inc. (NASDAQ:GLPI) and PS Business Parks, Inc. (NYSE:PSB) , each carrying a Zacks Rank #2. You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank (Strong Buy) stocks here.

In the last 30 days, DiamondRock Hospitality Company’s FFO per share for second-quarter 2017 remained unchanged at 31 cents.

In the last 30 days, Gaming and Leisure Properties’ FFO per share for second-quarter 2017 remained unchanged at 77 cents.

In the last 30 days, PS Business Parkss FFO per share for second-quarter 2017 moved up 2% to $1.53.

Note: FFO, a widely used metric to gauge the performance of REITs, is obtained after adding depreciation and amortization and other non-cash expenses to net income. All EPS numbers presented in this write up represent FFO per share.

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PS Business Parks, Inc. (PSB): Free Stock Analysis Report

Alexandria Real Estate Equities, Inc. (ARE): Free Stock Analysis Report

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