46,079 Shares in AvalonBay Communities, Inc. (NYSE:AVB) Acquired by KLP Kapitalforvaltning AS

KLP Kapitalforvaltning AS bought a new stake in shares of AvalonBay Communities, Inc. (NYSE:AVB) during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm bought 46,079 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock, valued at approximately $10,203,000.

Several other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the business. State Street Corp lifted its holdings in shares of AvalonBay Communities by 2.2% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 9,245,028 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $2,097,971,000 after purchasing an additional 196,938 shares in the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. lifted its stake in AvalonBay Communities by 0.6% during 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 acquiring an additional 27,629 shares during the period. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted its holdings in shares of AvalonBay Communities by 1.4% during the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 4,060,497 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $914,627,000 after acquiring an additional 55,588 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its stake in shares of AvalonBay Communities by 0.8% in the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 3,585,802 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $805,113,000 after acquiring an additional 27,988 shares during the period. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its holdings in shares of AvalonBay Communities by 1.2% during the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 2,266,701 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $498,606,000 after purchasing an additional 26,265 shares during the last quarter. 92.61% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

AvalonBay Communities Stock Up 2.3 %

Shares of AVB stock opened at $214.40 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.68, a current ratio of 1.64 and a quick ratio of 1.64. AvalonBay Communities, Inc. has a one year low of $177.40 and a one year high of $239.29. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $217.86 and its 200-day moving average price is $222.78. The company has a market capitalization of $30.50 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.25, a PEG ratio of 3.11 and a beta of 1.00.

AvalonBay Communities (NYSE:AVB) last posted its quarterly earnings results 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 net margin of 37.13% and a return on equity of 9.15%. Sell-side analysts expect that AvalonBay Communities, Inc. will post 11.48 EPS for the current fiscal year.

AvalonBay Communities Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 15th. Investors of record on Monday, March 31st will be issued a $1.75 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 31st. This is a boost from AvalonBay Communities’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.70. This represents a $7.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.26%. AvalonBay Communities’s payout ratio is currently 92.23%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts recently issued reports on AVB shares. Morgan Stanley cut shares of AvalonBay Communities from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and dropped their target price for the stock from $236.00 to $223.00 in a report on Friday, January 24th. Zelman & Associates raised AvalonBay Communities from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, February 13th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised AvalonBay Communities from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and increased their target price for the company from $247.00 to $262.00 in a report on Tuesday, December 17th. Barclays cut their price target on AvalonBay Communities from $230.00 to $226.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, February 19th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada increased their price objective on shares of AvalonBay Communities from $226.00 to $229.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Friday, February 7th. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $238.64.

AvalonBay Communities Profile

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.