We’ve also culled some stocks from today’s list because either they don’t pay a dividend — or pay a low dividend for a REIT — or the company has already surpassed its current median target price. The companies we’ve selected are Health Care REIT, Inc. (NYSE: HCN), Senior Housing Properties Trust (NYSE: SNH), UDR, Inc. (NYSE: UDR), Essex Property Trust Inc. (NYSE: ESS), Camden Property Trust (NYSE: CPT), RLJ Lodging Trust (NYSE: RLJ), Diamondrock Hospitality Co. (NYSE: DRH), The Howard Hughes Corp. (NYSE: HHC), and General Growth Properties Inc. (NYSE: GGP).

Howard Hughes Corp. is not a REIT, but its operations are a near-identical fit with those of the trusts. It does not pay a dividend, but its upside potential is significant and we include it here as a “quasi-REIT.”

All data from Yahoo! Finance, and share prices were collected in the early afternoon today.

Health Care REIT, Inc. (NYSE: HCN) has a median target price of $53.00 from 13 brokers. Shares are trading today at $49.61, for an implied gain of $3.39, or 7%. HCN’s forward P/E is 13.11 and the company pays a dividend yield of 5.6%. The stock’s 52-week trading range is $41.03-$55.21, and at today’s price that’s about 21% above its 52-week low and 10% below the 52-week high.

HCN today completed a secondary offering of 12.65 million shares priced at $50/share. The company raised $632.5 million, which it plans to use for future investment, to pay down debt, and for general corporate purposes. Shares had been trading near the target price in advance of the offering. The attractive dividend yield makes the stock worth considering.

Senior Housing Properties Trust (NYSE: SNH) has a median target price of $24.00 from 7 brokers. Shares are trading today at $21.27, for an implied gain of $2.73, or 13%. SNH’s forward P/E is 7.31 and the company pays a dividend yield of 7%. The stock’s 52-week trading range is $19.09-$24.66, and at today’s price that’s about 11% above its 52-week low and 14% below the 52-week high.

Senior Housing Properties pays the highest dividend of any stock in this group and there is still headroom a nice implied gain. The 52-week high is barely above the target price, which could indicate a target price boost soon.

UDR, Inc. (NYSE: UDR) has a median target price of $27.00 from 18 brokers. Shares are trading today at $24.31, for an implied gain of $2.69, or 11%. UDR’s forward P/E is 17.12 and the company pays a dividend yield of 3.2%. The stock’s 52-week trading range is $20.04-$27.26, and at today’s price that’s about 21% above its 52-week low and 11% below the 52-week high.

UDR has been able to raise its rents due to its strategy of buying apartment properties in cities where job growth is better than average and higher priced housing is performing better.

Essex Property Trust Inc. (NYSE: ESS) has a median target price of $145.00 from 20 brokers. Shares are trading today at $135.09, for an implied gain of $9.91, or 7%. Essex’s forward P/E is 20.9 and the company pays a dividend yield of 3%. The stock’s 52-week trading range is $105.60-$148.44, and at today’s price that’s about 28% above its 52-week low and 9% below the 52-week high.

Essex’s target price is lower than its 52-week high and its forward P/E is higher than average as well, indicating that the stock could be priced at very near its full value. The 7% implied gain is further evidence that expectations for growth are not all that rosy.

Aixtron Aktiengesellschaft (NASDAQ: AIXG) is getting hit today, partly with ADRs and partly on an analyst downgrade from JPMorgan Cazenove.  Shares closed at $27.71 yesterday and are trading down 11.5% at $24.52 on about 20,000 shares.

The Bank of Ireland (NYSE: IRE) and Allied Irish Banks plc (NYSE: AIB) are being kicked yet again with the international markets.  Bank of Ireland (NYSE: IRE) ADRs are down 11.6% at $4.48 on close to 100,000 shares (new 52-week lows); Allied Irish Banks plc (NYSE: AIB) is down 11% at $2.23 on 150,000 shares (also a 52-week low for ADRs).

DiamondRock Hospitality Company (NYSE: DRH) has announced pricing of its secondary public offering of 20,000,000 common shares at a price of $8.40 per share.  Shares closed at $9.24 yesterday, and the stock is trading down around $8.35.  The 8:45 AM snapshot showed 90,000 shares and average volume is 1.577 million; the 52-week range is $5.11 to $11.77.

National Bank of Greece SA (NYSE: NBG) is a PIIGS leading cast member… ADRs are down 6% at $2.47 on analyst actions today.  The 52-week low is $2.44.

Neurocrine Biosciences Inc. (NASDAQ: NBIX) is soaring this morning after it reported that its endometriosis drug met its study goals.  Shares are up 50% at $4.10 on 150,000 shares.  Average volume is 411,000 shares and the old 52-week range was $1.94 to $3.67.

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JON C. OGG

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Home Furnishing Retail was a closed second, up 55% lead by Pier 1 (PIR) and Kirklands (KRK).

Over the last month, the Vehicle Rental sector was higher by 50%. AvisBudget (CAR) and Hertz (HTZ) help push up this industry group.

The biggest loser in the last month was Gold and Silver stocks with the largest companies in the sector being Agnico Eagle (AEM) and and Yamana Gold (AUY)

Data from Tickerspy.

Douglas A. McIntyre

Charles Schwab Corp. (NASDAQ: SCHW) boosted its buyback plan Thursday by approving an additional $500 million in buybacks, making the total buyback amount $619 million. Charles Schwab’s market cap is $23.6 billion.

DiamondRock Hospitality Co. (NYSE: DRH), a real estate investment trust (REIT), announced on Monday that up to 4.8 million shares were approved for repurchase. $1.24 billion is their current market cap.  It isn’t unique, but REIT’s rarely repurchase shares compared to other sectors because they have to distribute most of their income.

Liberty Media Capital (NASDAQ: LCAPA) has approved $1 Billion in repurchases of Liberty Entertainment common stock and $300 million of Liberty Capital common stock on Monday. Their market cap is $1.95 Billion.

QUALCOMM Inc. (NASDAQ: QCOM) approved a $2 Billion buyback plan Tuesday. The program will replace a $3 Billion buyback that currently had $2 million remaining. The current market cap for QUALCOMM is $64.9 Billion.

Timberland Co. (NYSE: TBL) authorized on Monday another 6 million shares for repurchasing. The apparel and footwear company currently has 1 million shares left from its previous 6 million share repurchase program. They have a market cap of $816 million so this would retire close to another 10% of its stock.

Tyco Electronics, Ltd. (NYSE: TEL) also upped its buyback plan on Thursday by $500 million, reaching $1.25 billion in authorized repurchases. Since September, Tyco Electronics has repurchased $512 of its common stock. Market cap sitting at $15.7 billion.

Rachel Lopez
March 14, 2008