LDR Capital Management LLC Buys 795 Shares of AvalonBay Communities, Inc. (NYSE:AVB)

LDR Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in AvalonBay Communities, Inc. (NYSE:AVB) by 9.2% in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 9,474 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after acquiring an additional 795 shares during the quarter. AvalonBay Communities makes up about 2.8% of LDR Capital Management LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 13th biggest position. LDR Capital Management LLC’s holdings in AvalonBay Communities were worth $2,084,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Winebrenner Capital Management LLC bought a new position in shares of AvalonBay Communities during the fourth quarter valued at $880,000. Legacy Capital Group California Inc. bought a new position in shares of AvalonBay Communities during the fourth quarter valued at $528,000. Handelsbanken Fonder AB raised its stake in shares of AvalonBay Communities by 9.0% during the fourth quarter. Handelsbanken Fonder AB now owns 91,673 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $20,165,000 after acquiring an additional 7,605 shares during the last quarter. Ieq Capital LLC raised its stake in shares of AvalonBay Communities by 79.9% during the fourth quarter. Ieq Capital LLC now owns 4,828 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $1,062,000 after acquiring an additional 2,145 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Private Advisor Group LLC raised its stake in shares of AvalonBay Communities by 2.6% during the fourth quarter. Private Advisor Group LLC now owns 2,512 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $553,000 after acquiring an additional 63 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 92.61% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

AVB has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Evercore ISI lifted their target price on shares of AvalonBay Communities from $230.00 to $240.00 and gave the stock an “in-line” rating in a research note on Monday, February 10th. Barclays lowered their target price on shares of AvalonBay Communities from $230.00 to $226.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday. Morgan Stanley cut shares of AvalonBay Communities from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and reduced their price target for the stock from $236.00 to $223.00 in a report on Friday, January 24th. Scotiabank reduced their price target on shares of AvalonBay Communities from $244.00 to $241.00 and set a “sector perform” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, November 14th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada raised their price target on shares of AvalonBay Communities from $226.00 to $229.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a report on Friday, February 7th. Eight equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $235.47.

AvalonBay Communities Stock Down 0.3 %

AvalonBay Communities stock opened at $218.78 on Friday. AvalonBay Communities, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $172.85 and a fifty-two week high of $239.29. The stock has a market cap of $31.12 billion, a PE ratio of 28.82, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.09 and a beta of 0.99. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $218.76 and its 200 day simple moving average is $222.86. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.68, a quick ratio of 1.64 and a current ratio of 1.64.

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

AvalonBay Communities Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 15th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 31st will be given a $1.75 dividend. This is a positive change from AvalonBay Communities’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.70. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 31st. This represents a $7.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.20%. AvalonBay Communities’s payout ratio is currently 92.23%.

AvalonBay Communities Company 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.