CIBC Asset Management Inc Purchases 110 Shares of AvalonBay Communities, Inc. (NYSE:AVB)

CIBC Asset Management Inc increased its position in shares of AvalonBay Communities, Inc. (NYSE:AVB) by 0.5% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 21,776 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after acquiring an additional 110 shares during the period. CIBC Asset Management Inc’s holdings in AvalonBay Communities were worth $4,790,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. State Street Corp increased its holdings in AvalonBay Communities by 2.2% during the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 9,245,028 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $2,097,971,000 after acquiring an additional 196,938 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc. increased its holdings 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 worth $1,009,781,000 after acquiring an additional 27,629 shares during the period. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased its holdings in 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 worth $914,627,000 after acquiring an additional 55,588 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in AvalonBay Communities by 0.8% during the 3rd 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. increased its holdings in AvalonBay Communities by 3.6% during the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 2,240,436 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $504,658,000 after acquiring an additional 78,800 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 92.61% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages have recently commented on AVB. Scotiabank decreased their price target on shares of AvalonBay Communities from $244.00 to $241.00 and set a “sector perform” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, November 14th. Morgan Stanley lowered shares of AvalonBay Communities from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and decreased their price target for the stock from $236.00 to $223.00 in a report on Friday, January 24th. Barclays decreased their price target on shares of AvalonBay Communities from $230.00 to $226.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday. Mizuho raised 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 report on Monday, January 6th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada increased 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 research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, AvalonBay Communities presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $235.47.

AvalonBay Communities Price Performance

AVB stock opened at $217.41 on Thursday. 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, Inc. has a 52 week low of $172.85 and a 52 week high of $239.29. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $219.08 and its 200 day moving average is $222.78. The firm has a market cap of $30.92 billion, a P/E ratio of 28.64, a P/E/G ratio of 3.10 and a beta of 0.99.

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

AvalonBay Communities Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 15th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 31st will be given a dividend of $1.75 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 31st. This represents a $7.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.22%. This is a boost from AvalonBay Communities’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.70. AvalonBay Communities’s dividend payout ratio is presently 89.59%.

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.