Caxton Associates LLP Makes New Investment in AvalonBay Communities, Inc. $AVB

Key Points

• Caxton Associates LLP opened a new position in AvalonBay Communities, buying 9,090 shares valued at about $1.49 million in the first quarter.
• Institutional ownership remains very high, with hedge funds and other investors controlling 92.61% of AvalonBay’s shares. Several large firms also increased their stakes recently, including Auto Owners Insurance, Norges Bank, UBS AM, Bank of America, and JPMorgan Chase.
• AvalonBay posted Q2 earnings of $1.11 per share, missing estimates, though revenue came in slightly above expectations. The company also pays a quarterly dividend of $1.78 per share, for an annualized yield of about 3.8%.

Caxton Associates LLP acquired a new stake in AvalonBay Communities, Inc. (NYSE:AVB - Free Report) in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund acquired 9,090 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock, valued at approximately $1,485,000.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Auto Owners Insurance Co increased its holdings in shares of AvalonBay Communities by 18,031.0% during the fourth quarter. Auto Owners Insurance Co now owns 11,785,150 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $213,677,000 after purchasing an additional 11,720,150 shares during the period. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of AvalonBay Communities in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $1,394,635,000. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC boosted its stake in shares of AvalonBay Communities by 15,065.6% in the fourth quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 1,801,071 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $326,552,000 after buying an additional 1,789,195 shares during the period. Bank of America Corp DE boosted its stake in shares of AvalonBay Communities by 76.0% in the third quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 2,355,838 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $455,077,000 after buying an additional 1,017,286 shares during the period. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. grew its position in AvalonBay Communities by 22.4% during the fourth quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 5,159,950 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $935,551,000 after buying an additional 944,129 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.61% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms have commented on AVB. Wolfe Research upgraded AvalonBay Communities from an "outperform" rating to an "outperform" rating and set a $209.00 price objective on the stock in a research note on Monday, June 1st. Barclays reiterated an "equal weight" rating and set a $205.00 target price (up from $203.00) on shares of AvalonBay Communities in a research report on Tuesday, July 14th. Scotiabank increased their target price on AvalonBay Communities from $187.00 to $195.00 and gave the stock a "sector perform" rating in a report on Thursday, July 9th. Royal Bank Of Canada raised their price target on AvalonBay Communities from $180.00 to $188.00 and gave the stock a "sector perform" rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 29th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price target on AvalonBay Communities from $193.00 to $191.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, April 23rd. Three analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and fifteen have assigned a Hold rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, AvalonBay Communities currently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $196.80.

AvalonBay Communities Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:AVB opened at $189.53 on Friday. The company's 50 day simple moving average is $187.49 and its 200 day simple moving average is $179.44. The stock has a market capitalization of $26.92 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.47, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.30 and a beta of 0.77. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.74, a current ratio of 0.62 and a quick ratio of 0.62. AvalonBay Communities, Inc. has a 1 year low of $160.10 and a 1 year high of $203.29.

AvalonBay Communities (NYSE:AVB - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, July 22nd. The real estate investment trust reported $1.11 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.23 by ($0.12). AvalonBay Communities had a return on equity of 8.58% and a net margin of 33.33%.The business had revenue of $777.77 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $772.37 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $2.82 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts predict that AvalonBay Communities, Inc. will post 11.28 EPS for the current fiscal year.

AvalonBay Communities Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, July 15th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, June 30th were issued a dividend of $1.78 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, June 30th. This represents a $7.12 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.8%. AvalonBay Communities's payout ratio is 103.19%.

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.

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