Gotham Asset Management LLC Purchases 67,242 Shares of AvalonBay Communities, Inc. $AVB

Gotham Asset Management LLC increased its position in AvalonBay Communities, Inc. (NYSE:AVB) by 83.8% during the third quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 147,500 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after buying an additional 67,242 shares during the period. Gotham Asset Management LLC’s holdings in AvalonBay Communities were worth $28,493,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Mather Group LLC. bought a new stake in AvalonBay Communities in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $30,000. BOKF NA bought a new position in shares of AvalonBay Communities during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $31,000. AlphaQuest LLC purchased a new position in shares of AvalonBay Communities in the third quarter valued at $33,000. Headlands Technologies LLC purchased a new position in shares of AvalonBay Communities in the second quarter valued at $36,000. Finally, McIlrath & Eck LLC bought a new stake in AvalonBay Communities in the second quarter worth $59,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.61% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms have commented on AVB. Citigroup lowered their price objective on shares of AvalonBay Communities from $212.00 to $198.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, February 13th. Royal Bank Of Canada decreased their target price on shares of AvalonBay Communities from $191.00 to $187.00 and set a “sector perform” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, February 6th. UBS Group lowered their price target on shares of AvalonBay Communities from $192.00 to $191.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, January 8th. Colliers Securities reissued a “neutral” rating and set a $195.00 price objective (down from $200.00) on shares of AvalonBay Communities in a research note on Thursday, December 4th. Finally, Wall Street Zen downgraded AvalonBay Communities from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Saturday, February 7th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and thirteen have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $198.75.

AvalonBay Communities Trading Up 0.1%

Shares of AVB opened at $169.20 on Tuesday. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $177.03 and its 200-day simple moving average is $181.87. The company has a market cap of $23.70 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.66, a P/E/G ratio of 2.96 and a beta of 0.75. 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, Inc. has a twelve month low of $166.73 and a twelve month high of $217.32.

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

AvalonBay Communities Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 15th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, March 31st will be given a dividend of $1.78 per share. This represents a $7.12 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.2%. This is a boost from AvalonBay Communities’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.75. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, March 31st. AvalonBay Communities’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 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.