Davis Selected Advisers Acquires 8,760 Shares of AvalonBay Communities, Inc. $AVB

Davis Selected Advisers increased its holdings in AvalonBay Communities, Inc. (NYSE:AVB) by 15.2% in the third quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 66,580 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after acquiring an additional 8,760 shares during the period. Davis Selected Advisers’ holdings in AvalonBay Communities were worth $12,861,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in AVB. Metis Global Partners LLC boosted its position in AvalonBay Communities by 21.0% during the 3rd quarter. Metis Global Partners LLC now owns 44,760 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $8,646,000 after acquiring an additional 7,780 shares in the last quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans grew its holdings in shares of AvalonBay Communities by 3.1% during the 3rd quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans now owns 216,153 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $41,754,000 after acquiring an additional 6,511 shares during the period. FORA Capital LLC raised its position in shares of AvalonBay Communities by 78.7% in the 2nd quarter. FORA Capital LLC now owns 15,702 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $3,195,000 after acquiring an additional 6,916 shares in the last quarter. Sun Life Financial Inc. lifted its stake in shares of AvalonBay Communities by 5.7% in the 3rd quarter. Sun Life Financial Inc. now owns 161,087 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $31,117,000 after purchasing an additional 8,660 shares during the period. Finally, Amundi boosted its position in shares of AvalonBay Communities by 17.7% during the second quarter. Amundi now owns 449,348 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $90,768,000 after purchasing an additional 67,695 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 92.61% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

AVB has been the subject of a number of research reports. Cantor Fitzgerald increased their price objective on AvalonBay Communities from $179.00 to $186.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, February 9th. Scotiabank dropped 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 report on Wednesday, March 4th. Mizuho decreased their price target on shares of AvalonBay Communities from $199.00 to $191.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, November 24th. Barclays lowered their price target on shares of AvalonBay Communities from $217.00 to $202.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, March 6th. Finally, Wall Street Zen lowered shares of AvalonBay Communities from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Saturday, February 7th. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and thirteen have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $198.75.

AvalonBay Communities Trading Down 2.6%

AvalonBay Communities stock opened at $166.12 on Thursday. AvalonBay Communities, Inc. has a 12 month low of $165.34 and a 12 month high of $217.32. The company has a market capitalization of $23.27 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.28, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.99 and a beta of 0.75. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $176.50 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $181.58. The company has a current ratio of 0.77, a quick ratio of 0.77 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.79.

AvalonBay Communities (NYSE:AVB) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 5th. The real estate investment trust reported $2.85 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.84 by $0.01. The firm had revenue of $767.86 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $766.38 million. AvalonBay Communities had a return on equity of 8.78% and a net margin of 34.57%.During the same period last year, the company earned $2.80 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts predict that AvalonBay Communities, Inc. will post 11.48 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

AvalonBay Communities Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 15th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, March 31st will be paid a dividend of $1.78 per share. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, March 31st. This represents a $7.12 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.3%. This is an increase from AvalonBay Communities’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.75. AvalonBay Communities’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 85.47%.

About AvalonBay Communities

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.