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Why Alexandria Real Estate Equities (ARE) is a Top Dividend Stock for Your Portfolio

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Getting big returns from financial portfolios, whether through stocks, bonds, ETFs, other securities, or a combination of all, is an investor's dream. But 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 2.69% so far this year. The life science real estate company is paying out a dividend of $1.09 per share at the moment, with a dividend yield of 2.45% compared to the REIT and Equity Trust - Other industry's yield of 2.81% and the S&P 500's yield of 1.34%.

Taking a look at the company's dividend growth, its current annualized dividend of $4.48 is up 5.7% from last year. Alexandria Real Estate Equities has increased its dividend 5 times on a year-over-year basis over the last 5 years for an average annual increase of 7.17%. 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. Alexandria Real Estate Equities's current payout ratio is 59%, meaning it paid out 59% of its trailing 12-month EPS as dividend.

Earnings growth looks solid for ARE for this fiscal year. The Zacks Consensus Estimate for 2021 is $7.75 per share, with earnings expected to increase 6.16% from the year ago period.

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. However, not all companies offer a quarterly payout.

High-growth firms or tech start-ups, for example, rarely provide their shareholders a dividend, while larger, more established companies that have more secure profits are often seen as the best dividend options. Income investors have to be mindful of the fact that high-yielding stocks tend to struggle during periods of rising interest rates. With that in mind, ARE is a compelling investment opportunity. Not only is it a strong dividend play, but the stock currently sits at a Zacks Rank of 3 (Hold).


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