Alexandria Real Estate Equities Inc.
(
ARE
) - a real estate investment trust (REIT) - recently announced a
7% hike in its quarterly cash dividend rate. The company will now
pay a dividend of 60 cents per share for first quarter 2013, up 4
cents from the prior-quarter dividend. The increased dividend
will be paid on Apr 15, 2013 to stockholders of record on Mar 28.
Alexandria is focused on managing its capital conservatively and
over the past 12 months, the company has augmented its quarterly
cash dividend rate by 11 cents or approximately 22%.
As of Sep 30, 2012, Alexandria's funds from operations payout
ratio (quarterly common stock dividend divided by quarterly funds
from operations) was 49%. At year-end 2012, cash and cash
equivalents stood at nearly $141 million. We believe that the
company has adequate cash to provide optimum shareholder value.
Alexandria Real Estate expects to distribute excess cash to the
shareholders through the increased dividend and concurrently
looks to maintain its cash flow for further reinvestments. As a
matter of fact, solid dividend payouts are arguably the biggest
attraction for REIT investors as the U.S. law requires these
companies to distribute 90% of their annual taxable income in the
form of dividends to the shareholders.
Pasadena, Calif.-based Alexandria Real Estate is a major owner
and leading life science real estate company, focused chiefly on
science-driven cluster development through the ownership,
operation, management, and selective acquisition, development,
and redevelopment of properties containing life science
laboratory space.
In addition to Alexandria, many other REITs have raised their
dividends in the recent months. Recently,
Taubman Centers Inc.
(
TCO
) announced an 8.1% hike in its quarterly cash dividend rate,
while in February,
Simon Property Group Inc.
(
SPG
) raised its dividend by 4.5% sequentially and
BRE Properties Inc.
(
BRE
) declared a 2.6% sequential hike in its quarterly cash dividend.
Alexandria currently has a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold).
ALEXANDRIA REAL (ARE): Free Stock Analysis
Report
BRE PROPERTIES (BRE): Free Stock Analysis
Report
SIMON PROPERTY (SPG): Free Stock Analysis
Report
TAUBMAN CENTERS (TCO): Free Stock Analysis
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