Back to top

Image: Bigstock

Alexandria Real Estate Equities (ARE) is a Top Dividend Stock Right Now: Should You Buy?

Read MoreHide Full Article

Getting big returns from financial portfolios, whether through stocks, bonds, ETFs, other securities, or a combination of all, is an investor's dream. However, when you're an income investor, your primary focus is generating consistent cash flow from each of your liquid investments.

Cash flow can come from bond interest, interest from other types of investments, and of course, dividends. A dividend is the distribution of a company's earnings paid out to shareholders; it's often viewed by its dividend yield, a metric that measures a dividend as a percent of the current stock price. Many academic studies show that dividends make up large portions of long-term returns, and in many cases, dividend contributions surpass one-third of total returns.

Alexandria Real Estate Equities in Focus

Headquartered in Pasadena, Alexandria Real Estate Equities (ARE - Free Report) is a Finance stock that has seen a price change of 17% so far this year. The life science real estate company is currently shelling out a dividend of $1.12 per share, with a dividend yield of 2.15%. This compares to the REIT and Equity Trust - Other industry's yield of 2.9% and the S&P 500's yield of 1.37%.

Taking a look at the company's dividend growth, its current annualized dividend of $4.48 is up 5.7% from last year. Over the last 5 years, Alexandria Real Estate Equities has increased its dividend 5 times on a year-over-year basis for an average annual increase of 7.12%. Future dividend growth will depend on earnings growth as well as payout ratio, which is the proportion of a company's annual earnings per share that it pays out as a dividend. Right now, Alexandria Real Estate Equities's payout ratio is 60%, which means it paid out 60% of its trailing 12-month EPS as dividend.

ARE is expecting earnings to expand this fiscal year as well. The Zacks Consensus Estimate for 2021 is $7.78 per share, which represents a year-over-year growth rate of 6.58%.

Bottom Line

From greatly improving stock investing profits and reducing overall portfolio risk to providing tax advantages, investors like dividends for a variety of different reasons. But, not every company offers a quarterly payout.

Big, established firms that have more secure profits are often seen as the best dividend options, but it's fairly uncommon to see high-growth businesses or tech start-ups offer their stockholders a dividend. During periods of rising interest rates, income investors must be mindful that high-yielding stocks tend to struggle. That said, they can take comfort from the fact that ARE is not only an attractive dividend play, but also represents a compelling investment opportunity with a Zacks Rank of #2 (Buy).


See More Zacks Research for These Tickers


Normally $25 each - click below to receive one report FREE:


Alexandria Real Estate Equities, Inc. (ARE) - free report >>

Published in