AvalonBay Communities, Inc. (NYSE:AVB) Sees Significant Drop in Short Interest

AvalonBay Communities, Inc. (NYSE:AVB - Get Free Report) was the target of a large decline in short interest in March. As of March 31st, there was short interest totalling 2,830,000 shares, a decline of 17.5% from the March 15th total of 3,430,000 shares. Based on an average trading volume of 738,500 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 3.8 days. Approximately 2.0% of the shares of the stock are short sold.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

AVB has been the topic of several research analyst reports. Evercore ISI increased their target price on AvalonBay Communities from $230.00 to $240.00 and gave the stock an "in-line" rating in a report on Monday, February 10th. Morgan Stanley cut shares of AvalonBay Communities from an "overweight" rating to an "equal weight" rating and decreased their price target for the company from $236.00 to $223.00 in a research note on Friday, January 24th. Truist Financial increased their price objective on AvalonBay Communities from $229.00 to $230.00 and gave the company a "hold" rating in a research report on Monday, March 10th. BMO Capital Markets cut AvalonBay Communities from an "outperform" rating to a "market perform" rating and set a $220.00 price target on the stock. in a report on Friday, April 4th. Finally, Mizuho raised shares of AvalonBay Communities from a "neutral" rating to an "outperform" rating and raised their target price for the company from $239.00 to $242.00 in a research note on Monday, January 6th. Eight analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $237.47.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On AvalonBay Communities

A number of institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Norges Bank acquired a new position in shares of AvalonBay Communities during the 4th quarter worth approximately $1,499,050,000. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD lifted its stake in shares of AvalonBay Communities by 35.0% during the 4th quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 5,152,183 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $1,133,328,000 after buying an additional 1,336,698 shares during the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp grew its stake in AvalonBay Communities by 54.8% in the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 2,642,743 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $581,324,000 after buying an additional 935,770 shares during the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP raised its holdings in AvalonBay Communities by 49.9% in the 4th quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 2,488,975 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $547,500,000 after acquiring an additional 828,009 shares during the period. Finally, Cohen & Steers Inc. lifted its position in AvalonBay Communities by 25.7% during the fourth quarter. Cohen & Steers Inc. now owns 3,130,108 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $688,527,000 after acquiring an additional 639,402 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.61% of the company's stock.

AvalonBay Communities Stock Down 0.3 %

AvalonBay Communities stock traded down $0.69 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $206.04. The company's stock had a trading volume of 173,934 shares, compared to its average volume of 691,679. The business's 50 day simple moving average is $210.04 and its 200 day simple moving average is $218.66. 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 has a 12 month low of $180.40 and a 12 month high of $239.29. The company has a market capitalization of $29.33 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.14, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.11 and a beta of 0.86.

AvalonBay Communities (NYSE:AVB - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, February 5th. The real estate investment trust reported $2.80 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.83 by ($0.03). AvalonBay Communities had a return on equity of 9.15% and a net margin of 37.13%. As a group, research analysts anticipate that AvalonBay Communities will post 11.48 earnings per share for the current year.

AvalonBay Communities Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, April 15th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 31st were issued a $1.75 dividend. This represents a $7.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.40%. This is a boost from AvalonBay Communities's previous quarterly dividend of $1.70. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, March 31st. AvalonBay Communities's dividend payout ratio is presently 92.23%.

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.