OVERSEA CHINESE BANKING Corp Ltd Makes New Investment in AvalonBay Communities, Inc. $AVB

OVERSEA CHINESE BANKING Corp Ltd acquired a new stake in AvalonBay Communities, Inc. (NYSE:AVB) in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor acquired 15,868 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock, valued at approximately $2,994,000.

A number of other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of AVB. BlackRock Inc. purchased a new stake in AvalonBay Communities in the second quarter worth $3,368,659,000. Auto Owners Insurance Co increased its stake 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 valued at $213,677,000 after purchasing an additional 11,720,150 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp increased its position in AvalonBay Communities by 1.0% during the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 9,537,966 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $1,858,788,000 after buying an additional 92,467 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new position in shares of AvalonBay Communities in the 4th quarter worth about $1,394,635,000. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised its holdings in AvalonBay Communities by 22.4% in 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 during the last quarter. 92.61% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts have recently weighed in on AVB shares. Royal Bank Of Canada boosted their price target on AvalonBay Communities from $180.00 to $188.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 29th. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price target on shares of AvalonBay Communities from $193.00 to $191.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, April 23rd. Weiss Ratings cut AvalonBay Communities from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “hold (c)” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 6th. Cantor Fitzgerald reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and issued a $190.00 target price on shares of AvalonBay Communities in a report on Wednesday. Finally, Wall Street Zen upgraded AvalonBay Communities from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, May 9th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and fifteen have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $196.87.

AvalonBay Communities Price Performance

AvalonBay Communities stock opened at $184.06 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $26.28 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 30.08, a PEG ratio of 2.98 and a beta of 0.76. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $187.74 and its 200 day moving average is $180.40. The company has a quick ratio of 0.54, a current ratio of 0.54 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.74. AvalonBay Communities, Inc. has a 52-week low of $160.10 and a 52-week high of $198.63.

AvalonBay Communities (NYSE:AVB) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 23rd. The real estate investment trust reported $1.11 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.23 by ($0.12). AvalonBay Communities had a net margin of 33.33% and a return on equity of 8.58%. The business had revenue of $777.77 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $772.37 million. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $2.82 EPS. Sell-side analysts forecast that AvalonBay Communities, Inc. will post 11.33 EPS for the current fiscal year.

AvalonBay Communities Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, July 15th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, June 30th were given a dividend of $1.78 per share. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, June 30th. This represents a $7.12 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.9%. AvalonBay Communities’s dividend payout ratio is 116.34%.

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.