Land & Buildings Investment Management LLC Makes New $3.72 Million Investment in AvalonBay Communities, Inc. $AVB

Land & Buildings Investment Management LLC purchased a new stake in AvalonBay Communities, Inc. (NYSE:AVB) in the 3rd quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund purchased 19,248 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock, valued at approximately $3,718,000. AvalonBay Communities accounts for approximately 0.7% of Land & Buildings Investment Management LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 21st biggest holding.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in AVB. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of AvalonBay Communities in the 2nd quarter valued at about $1,394,225,000. Invesco Ltd. raised its stake in AvalonBay Communities by 70.2% during the 2nd quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 2,593,727 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $527,823,000 after buying an additional 1,069,793 shares during the period. Bank of America Corp DE raised its stake in AvalonBay Communities by 76.0% during the 3rd quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 2,355,838 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $455,077,000 after buying an additional 1,017,286 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its holdings in AvalonBay Communities by 23.2% in the second quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 2,816,163 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $573,091,000 after acquiring an additional 530,274 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Bahl & Gaynor Inc. boosted its holdings in AvalonBay Communities by 126.5% in the third quarter. Bahl & Gaynor Inc. now owns 555,832 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $107,370,000 after acquiring an additional 310,412 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 92.61% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have recently commented on AVB. Colliers Securities restated a “neutral” rating and set a $195.00 price objective (down from $200.00) on shares of AvalonBay Communities in a report on Thursday, December 4th. Citigroup cut their target price on AvalonBay Communities from $212.00 to $198.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, February 13th. Mizuho decreased their price target on shares of AvalonBay Communities from $199.00 to $191.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, November 24th. Scotiabank lowered their price objective on shares of AvalonBay Communities from $193.00 to $190.00 and set a “sector perform” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, March 4th. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald raised their price objective on shares of AvalonBay Communities from $179.00 to $186.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, February 9th. Five analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and thirteen have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, AvalonBay Communities has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $198.75.

AvalonBay Communities Stock Up 0.1%

AVB stock opened at $169.20 on Tuesday. AvalonBay Communities, Inc. has a twelve month low of $166.73 and a twelve month high of $217.32. The company has a quick ratio of 0.77, a current ratio of 0.77 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.79. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $177.03 and its 200-day moving average is $181.87. The firm has a market capitalization of $23.70 billion, a PE ratio of 20.66, a P/E/G ratio of 2.96 and a beta of 0.75.

AvalonBay Communities (NYSE:AVB) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, February 5th. The real estate investment trust reported $2.85 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.84 by $0.01. AvalonBay Communities had a return on equity of 8.78% and a net margin of 34.57%.The company had revenue of $767.86 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $766.38 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $2.80 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts expect that AvalonBay Communities, Inc. will post 11.48 EPS for the current fiscal year.

AvalonBay Communities Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 15th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, March 31st will be issued a dividend of $1.78 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, March 31st. This represents a $7.12 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.2%. This is a positive change from AvalonBay Communities’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.75. AvalonBay Communities’s payout ratio is presently 85.47%.

AvalonBay Communities Profile

AvalonBay Communities, Inc (NYSE: AVB) is a publicly traded real estate investment trust (REIT) that owns, develops, redevelops and manages multifamily residential properties. The company focuses on professionally managed apartment communities, offering a range of rental housing options and related resident services. As a REIT, AvalonBay’s core activities center on the acquisition and development of apartment assets and the ongoing operations and leasing of those communities.

AvalonBay’s operating activities include ground-up development, strategic redevelopment of existing properties, property and asset management, and on-site leasing and resident services.