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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. 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

Based in Pasadena, Alexandria Real Estate Equities (ARE - Free Report) is in the Finance sector, and so far this year, shares have seen a price change of -2.34%. The life science real estate company is currently shelling out a dividend of $1.03 per share, with a dividend yield of 2.61%. This compares to the REIT and Equity Trust - Other industry's yield of 6.01% and the S&P 500's yield of 2.18%.

Looking at dividend growth, the company's current annualized dividend of $4.12 is up 3% 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 7.06%. Any future dividend growth will depend on both earnings growth and the company's payout ratio; a payout ratio is the proportion of a firm's annual earnings per share that it pays out as a dividend. Right now, Alexandria Real Estate Equities's payout ratio is 59%, which means it paid out 59% of its trailing 12-month EPS as dividend.

ARE is expecting earnings to expand this fiscal year as well. The Zacks Consensus Estimate for 2020 is $7.20 per share, with earnings expected to increase 3.45% 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. It's important to keep in mind that not all companies provide a quarterly payout.

For instance, it's a rare occurrence when a tech start-up or big growth business offers their shareholders a dividend. It's more common to see larger companies with more established profits give out dividends. 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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