Boston Properties, Inc. (NYSE:BXP) Given Consensus Recommendation of “Hold” by Brokerages

Boston Properties, Inc. (NYSE:BXP) has received an average recommendation of “Hold” from the thirteen ratings firms that are currently covering the stock, Marketbeat reports. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and six have issued a buy recommendation on the company. The average 12-month target price among brokers that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $81.38.

A number of research analysts recently commented on the company. Evercore ISI upped their price objective on Boston Properties from $77.00 to $84.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, September 16th. StockNews.com lowered Boston Properties from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 31st. Scotiabank reissued a “sector perform” rating and set a $85.00 price objective on shares of Boston Properties in a research report on Thursday, November 7th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their target price on shares of Boston Properties from $73.00 to $80.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, September 11th. Finally, Barclays lifted their price target on shares of Boston Properties from $88.00 to $89.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Monday, November 18th.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Boston Properties

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. HB Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Boston Properties in the second quarter valued at $259,000. UMB Bank n.a. increased its holdings in Boston Properties by 115.5% during the 2nd quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 709 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $44,000 after acquiring an additional 380 shares in the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. raised its position in Boston Properties by 17.8% during the second quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 587,302 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $36,154,000 after acquiring an additional 88,569 shares during the last quarter. BNP PARIBAS ASSET MANAGEMENT Holding S.A. lifted its holdings in shares of Boston Properties by 68.5% in the second quarter. BNP PARIBAS ASSET MANAGEMENT Holding S.A. now owns 154,095 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $9,486,000 after purchasing an additional 62,621 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Signaturefd LLC grew its position in shares of Boston Properties by 2.6% in the second quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 6,597 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $406,000 after purchasing an additional 168 shares during the last quarter. 98.72% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Boston Properties Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:BXP opened at $74.61 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.01, a current ratio of 5.51 and a quick ratio of 5.51. Boston Properties has a 1 year low of $56.46 and a 1 year high of $90.11. The firm has a market capitalization of $11.80 billion, a PE ratio of 32.30, a P/E/G ratio of 0.55 and a beta of 1.17. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $80.73 and its 200-day moving average price is $74.97.

Boston Properties (NYSE:BXP) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 29th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.53 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.81 by ($1.28). The business had revenue of $859.23 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $829.91 million. Boston Properties had a net margin of 10.75% and a return on equity of 4.40%. The firm’s revenue was up 4.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $1.86 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Boston Properties will post 7.1 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Boston Properties Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, January 30th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, December 31st will be issued a $0.98 dividend. This represents a $3.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 5.25%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, December 31st. Boston Properties’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 169.70%.

About Boston Properties

Boston Properties, Inc (NYSE: BXP) (BXP or the Company) is the largest publicly traded developer, owner, and manager of premier workplaces in the United States, concentrated in six dynamic gateway markets – Boston, Los Angeles, New York, San Francisco, Seattle, and Washington, DC. BXP has delivered places that power progress for our clients and communities for more than 50 years.