Daiwa Securities Group Inc. Purchases 188,906 Shares of AvalonBay Communities, Inc. (NYSE:AVB)

Daiwa Securities Group Inc. lifted its position in AvalonBay Communities, Inc. (NYSE:AVB) by 51.7% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 554,290 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after purchasing an additional 188,906 shares during the quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc.’s holdings in AvalonBay Communities were worth $121,927,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Stratos Wealth Partners LTD. grew its position in AvalonBay Communities by 29.6% during the fourth quarter. Stratos Wealth Partners LTD. now owns 1,260 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $277,000 after acquiring an additional 288 shares during the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted its stake in shares of AvalonBay Communities by 1.4% in 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 purchasing an additional 55,588 shares in the last quarter. American Assets Capital Advisers LLC bought a new position in shares of AvalonBay Communities during the 3rd quarter valued at $1,014,000. West Oak Capital LLC lifted its stake in AvalonBay Communities by 875.3% in the fourth quarter. West Oak Capital LLC now owns 15,800 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $356,000 after purchasing an additional 14,180 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Portfolio Design Labs LLC boosted its position in AvalonBay Communities by 27.0% during the fourth quarter. Portfolio Design Labs LLC now owns 22,356 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $4,918,000 after buying an additional 4,747 shares during the period. 92.61% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

AvalonBay Communities Price Performance

Shares of NYSE AVB opened at $218.45 on Monday. AvalonBay Communities, Inc. has a 1 year low of $177.40 and a 1 year high of $239.29. The stock has a market capitalization of $31.08 billion, a P/E ratio of 28.78, a P/E/G ratio of 3.11 and a beta of 1.00. The company’s 50-day moving average is $218.81 and its 200 day moving average is $223.73. 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 (NYSE:AVB) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, February 5th. The real estate investment trust reported $2.80 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.83 by ($0.03). AvalonBay Communities had a return on equity of 9.15% and a net margin of 37.13%. On average, sell-side analysts expect that AvalonBay Communities, Inc. will post 11.48 earnings per share for the current year.

AvalonBay Communities Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 15th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 31st will be issued a dividend of $1.75 per share. This represents a $7.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.20%. 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. AvalonBay Communities’s payout ratio is 92.23%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts have recently commented on AVB shares. Scotiabank decreased their price objective on AvalonBay Communities from $244.00 to $241.00 and set a “sector perform” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, November 14th. Mizuho raised AvalonBay Communities from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and lifted their price target for the stock from $239.00 to $242.00 in a research note on Monday, January 6th. Zelman & Associates raised AvalonBay Communities from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 13th. 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. Finally, Barclays dropped their price target on shares of AvalonBay Communities from $230.00 to $226.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, February 19th. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, AvalonBay Communities presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $238.64.

About AvalonBay Communities

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.