Short Interest in AvalonBay Communities, Inc. (NYSE:AVB) Grows By 10.5%

AvalonBay Communities, Inc. (NYSE:AVB) was the recipient of a large growth in short interest in January. As of January 15th, there was short interest totalling 3,160,000 shares, a growth of 10.5% from the December 31st total of 2,860,000 shares. Based on an average trading volume of 616,300 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 5.1 days.

Insider Buying and Selling at AvalonBay Communities

In other news, Director Timothy J. Naughton sold 23,697 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, November 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $233.47, for a total transaction of $5,532,538.59. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 87,239 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $20,367,689.33. This represents a 21.36 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Insiders own 0.48% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the business. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC grew its holdings in AvalonBay Communities by 678.9% in the third quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 1,715,050 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $386,315,000 after purchasing an additional 1,494,872 shares during the period. International Assets Investment Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of AvalonBay Communities in the 3rd quarter valued at about $581,960,000. State Street Corp increased its position in AvalonBay Communities by 2.2% in the 3rd 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 buying an additional 196,938 shares in the last quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC raised its stake in AvalonBay Communities by 958.9% during the 3rd quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 172,618 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $38,882,000 after buying an additional 156,316 shares during the period. Finally, Artemis Investment Management LLP bought a new position in AvalonBay Communities in the third quarter worth approximately $29,256,000. 92.61% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

AvalonBay Communities Trading Down 0.5 %

Shares of AvalonBay Communities stock traded down $1.06 during midday trading on Monday, reaching $220.46. The company had a trading volume of 406,041 shares, compared to its average volume of 585,824. The firm has a market cap of $31.36 billion, a PE ratio of 30.16, a P/E/G ratio of 3.09 and a beta of 1.00. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $221.93 and a 200 day moving average price of $221.79. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.70, a current ratio of 1.64 and a quick ratio of 1.64. AvalonBay Communities has a fifty-two week low of $169.37 and a fifty-two week high of $239.29.

AvalonBay Communities (NYSE:AVB) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Monday, November 4th. The real estate investment trust reported $2.61 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.71 by ($0.10). AvalonBay Communities had a net margin of 36.20% and a return on equity of 8.84%. The firm had revenue of $734.31 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $731.67 million. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $2.66 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts anticipate that AvalonBay Communities will post 11.04 earnings per share for the current year.

AvalonBay Communities Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, January 15th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, December 31st were given a dividend of $1.70 per share. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, December 31st. This represents a $6.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.08%. AvalonBay Communities’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 93.02%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

AVB has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Barclays lowered their price target on AvalonBay Communities from $243.00 to $230.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Friday, January 24th. Mizuho raised shares of AvalonBay Communities from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and increased their target price for the stock from $239.00 to $242.00 in a report on Monday, January 6th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upgraded shares of AvalonBay Communities from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and raised their price target for the company from $247.00 to $262.00 in a research note on Tuesday, December 17th. Royal Bank of Canada lowered their price objective on shares of AvalonBay Communities from $234.00 to $233.00 and set a “sector perform” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, November 6th. Finally, Scotiabank cut their target price on shares of AvalonBay Communities from $244.00 to $241.00 and set a “sector perform” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, November 14th. Nine research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $234.60.

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.