Exchange Traded Concepts LLC Acquires 17,462 Shares of AvalonBay Communities, Inc. $AVB

Exchange Traded Concepts LLC grew its holdings in AvalonBay Communities, Inc. (NYSE:AVB) by 682.4% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 20,021 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after buying an additional 17,462 shares during the quarter. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC’s holdings in AvalonBay Communities were worth $3,630,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Tradewinds Capital Management LLC bought a new stake in AvalonBay Communities in the fourth quarter valued at about $45,000. Fort Washington Investment Advisors Inc. OH bought a new position in AvalonBay Communities during the fourth quarter worth about $26,237,000. Czech National Bank boosted its holdings in AvalonBay Communities by 3.2% during the fourth quarter. Czech National Bank now owns 37,292 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $6,761,000 after purchasing an additional 1,173 shares in the last quarter. Pensionfund Sabic bought a new stake in shares of AvalonBay Communities in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $1,813,000. Finally, Pensionfund PDN bought a new stake in shares of AvalonBay Communities in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $3,648,000. 92.61% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts recently commented on the company. Morgan Stanley restated an “equal weight” rating and set a $203.00 target price (down from $208.00) on shares of AvalonBay Communities in a research report on Thursday, March 26th. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of AvalonBay Communities in a research report on Friday, January 9th. Cantor Fitzgerald increased their price objective on AvalonBay Communities from $179.00 to $186.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, February 9th. Royal Bank Of Canada cut their price objective on AvalonBay Communities from $191.00 to $187.00 and set a “sector perform” rating for the company in a report on Friday, February 6th. Finally, Scotiabank reduced their target price on shares of AvalonBay Communities from $193.00 to $190.00 and set a “sector perform” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, March 4th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and fourteen have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $198.44.

AvalonBay Communities Trading Up 0.4%

AVB stock opened at $161.51 on Tuesday. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $173.62 and a 200 day moving average price of $179.76. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.79, a current ratio of 0.77 and a quick ratio of 0.77. AvalonBay Communities, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $160.35 and a fifty-two week high of $216.47. The stock has a market capitalization of $22.62 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.72, a P/E/G ratio of 2.82 and a beta of 0.75.

AvalonBay Communities (NYSE:AVB) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 5th. The real estate investment trust reported $2.85 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.84 by $0.01. The company had revenue of $767.86 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $766.38 million. AvalonBay Communities had a return on equity of 8.78% and a net margin of 34.57%.During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $2.80 earnings per share. Analysts expect 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 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 4.4%. This is an increase from AvalonBay Communities’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.75. AvalonBay Communities’s payout ratio is currently 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.