Cypress Capital Group Decreases Position in AvalonBay Communities, Inc. (NYSE:AVB)

Cypress Capital Group lessened its holdings in AvalonBay Communities, Inc. (NYSE:AVB) by 2.9% in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 1,547 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after selling 47 shares during the quarter. Cypress Capital Group’s holdings in AvalonBay Communities were worth $340,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. State Street Corp boosted 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 during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc. boosted its position in AvalonBay Communities by 0.6% in the 4th quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 4,590,539 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $1,009,781,000 after buying an additional 27,629 shares during the period. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted its position in 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 buying an additional 55,588 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its position in AvalonBay Communities by 0.8% in the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 3,585,802 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $805,113,000 after buying an additional 27,988 shares during the period. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its position in shares of AvalonBay Communities by 1.2% during the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 2,266,701 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $498,606,000 after purchasing an additional 26,265 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.61% of the company’s stock.

AvalonBay Communities Trading Up 0.7 %

NYSE AVB opened at $224.62 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.68, a quick ratio of 1.64 and a current ratio of 1.64. The firm has a market cap of $31.95 billion, a PE ratio of 29.59, a P/E/G ratio of 3.11 and a beta of 1.00. AvalonBay Communities, Inc. has a one year low of $177.40 and a one year high of $239.29. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $218.95 and its two-hundred day moving average is $223.65.

AvalonBay Communities (NYSE:AVB) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 5th. The real estate investment trust reported $2.80 earnings per share (EPS) 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%. Analysts expect that AvalonBay Communities, Inc. will post 11.48 earnings per share for the current year.

AvalonBay Communities Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 15th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 31st will be paid a dividend of $1.75 per share. This represents a $7.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.12%. This is a positive change from AvalonBay Communities’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.70. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 31st. AvalonBay Communities’s payout ratio is 92.23%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

AVB has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their price objective on shares of AvalonBay Communities from $226.00 to $229.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Friday, February 7th. Barclays decreased their price objective 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. Scotiabank decreased their price objective on shares of AvalonBay Communities from $244.00 to $241.00 and set a “sector perform” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, November 14th. Evercore ISI lifted their price objective on shares of AvalonBay Communities from $230.00 to $240.00 and gave the stock an “in-line” rating in a research report on Monday, February 10th. Finally, Mizuho raised shares of AvalonBay Communities from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and boosted their price target for the company from $239.00 to $242.00 in a research report on Monday, January 6th. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $238.64.

AvalonBay Communities Company Profile

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.