Capital Square LLC Raises Stock Position in AvalonBay Communities, Inc. (NYSE:AVB)

Capital Square LLC raised its position in shares of AvalonBay Communities, Inc. (NYSE:AVB) by 8.4% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 3,326 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after acquiring an additional 259 shares during the quarter. Capital Square LLC’s holdings in AvalonBay Communities were worth $714,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of AvalonBay Communities in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $1,499,050,000. Principal Financial Group Inc. raised its holdings in shares of AvalonBay Communities by 0.6% in the 4th quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 4,590,539 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $1,009,781,000 after buying an additional 27,629 shares during the period. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted its position in shares of AvalonBay Communities by 1.4% during the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 4,060,497 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $914,627,000 after purchasing an additional 55,588 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in AvalonBay Communities by 3.0% during the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 3,693,457 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $810,470,000 after buying an additional 107,655 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Cohen & Steers Inc. raised its stake in shares of AvalonBay Communities by 25.7% in the fourth quarter. Cohen & Steers Inc. now owns 3,130,108 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $688,527,000 after acquiring an additional 639,402 shares in the last quarter. 92.61% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

AvalonBay Communities Price Performance

Shares of NYSE AVB opened at $200.34 on Thursday. The company has a current ratio of 1.64, a quick ratio of 1.64 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.68. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $211.73 and its 200 day moving average price is $219.37. AvalonBay Communities, Inc. has a 52 week low of $178.29 and a 52 week high of $239.29. The stock has a market cap of $28.52 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.40, a PEG ratio of 3.11 and a beta of 0.86.

AvalonBay Communities (NYSE:AVB) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 5th. The real estate investment trust reported $2.80 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.83 by ($0.03). AvalonBay Communities had a return on equity of 9.15% and a net margin of 37.13%. As a group, research analysts forecast that AvalonBay Communities, Inc. will post 11.48 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

AvalonBay Communities Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, April 15th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 31st were paid a dividend of $1.75 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, March 31st. This represents a $7.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.49%. This is an increase from AvalonBay Communities’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.70. AvalonBay Communities’s dividend payout ratio is currently 92.23%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

AVB has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. BMO Capital Markets downgraded shares of AvalonBay Communities from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating and set a $220.00 price target for the company. in a research note on Friday, April 4th. Evercore ISI upped their target price on AvalonBay Communities from $230.00 to $240.00 and gave the company an “in-line” rating in a research report on Monday, February 10th. Mizuho upgraded shares of AvalonBay Communities from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and increased their price target for the stock from $239.00 to $242.00 in a research note on Monday, January 6th. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their target price on AvalonBay Communities from $226.00 to $229.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Friday, February 7th. Finally, Barclays boosted their price target on shares of AvalonBay Communities from $226.00 to $227.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, April 11th. Eight analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $237.47.

About AvalonBay Communities

AvalonBay Communities, Inc is a real estate investment trust, which engages in the development, acquisition, ownership, and operation of multifamily communities. It operates through the following segments: Same Store, Other Stabilized, and Development or Redevelopment. The Same Store segment refers to the operating communities that were owned and had stabilized occupancy.