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

AvalonBay Communities, Inc. (NYSE:AVB) was the target of a significant growth in short interest in the month of January. As of January 15th, there was short interest totalling 3,160,000 shares, a growth of 10.5% from the December 31st total of 2,860,000 shares. Based on an average trading volume of 616,300 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 5.1 days.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Director Timothy J. Naughton sold 23,697 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, November 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $233.47, for a total value of $5,532,538.59. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 87,239 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $20,367,689.33. This trade represents a 21.36 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. 0.42% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On AvalonBay Communities

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in AVB. Segment Wealth Management LLC grew its stake in AvalonBay Communities by 4.6% in the 3rd quarter. Segment Wealth Management LLC now owns 1,025 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $231,000 after acquiring an additional 45 shares in the last quarter. Patrick M Sweeney & Associates Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of AvalonBay Communities by 4.1% during the third quarter. Patrick M Sweeney & Associates Inc. now owns 1,268 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $286,000 after purchasing an additional 50 shares during the period. Tectonic Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in AvalonBay Communities by 2.7% in the third quarter. Tectonic Advisors LLC now owns 1,934 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $436,000 after purchasing an additional 50 shares during the last quarter. OneDigital Investment Advisors LLC boosted its position in AvalonBay Communities by 4.6% in the 3rd quarter. OneDigital Investment Advisors LLC now owns 1,244 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $280,000 after purchasing an additional 55 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Wedmont Private Capital grew its position in AvalonBay Communities by 5.3% during the fourth quarter. Wedmont Private Capital now owns 1,094 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $231,000 after buying an additional 55 shares during the period. 92.61% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

AVB has been the subject of several research reports. Royal Bank of Canada dropped their price objective on shares of AvalonBay Communities from $234.00 to $233.00 and set a “sector perform” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, November 6th. Scotiabank decreased their price target on AvalonBay Communities from $244.00 to $241.00 and set a “sector perform” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, November 14th. Morgan Stanley downgraded shares of AvalonBay Communities from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and lowered their price target for the stock from $236.00 to $223.00 in a report on Friday, January 24th. Mizuho upgraded AvalonBay Communities from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and lifted their price target for the stock from $239.00 to $242.00 in a report on Monday, January 6th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. upgraded AvalonBay Communities from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and upped their price target for the stock from $247.00 to $262.00 in a report on Tuesday, December 17th. Nine investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $234.60.

AvalonBay Communities Trading Down 0.5 %

Shares of AVB stock traded down $1.06 during trading hours on Monday, reaching $220.46. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 778,782 shares, compared to its average volume of 605,875. AvalonBay Communities has a one year low of $169.37 and a one year high of $239.29. The stock has a market capitalization of $31.36 billion, a P/E ratio of 30.16, a P/E/G ratio of 3.09 and a beta of 0.99. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $221.93 and its 200 day simple moving average is $221.79. The company has a current ratio of 1.64, a quick ratio of 1.64 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.70.

AvalonBay Communities (NYSE:AVB) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Monday, November 4th. The real estate investment trust reported $2.61 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.71 by ($0.10). AvalonBay Communities had a net margin of 36.20% and a return on equity of 8.84%. The business had revenue of $734.31 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $731.67 million. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $2.66 earnings per share. Equities research analysts expect that AvalonBay Communities will post 11.04 EPS for the current year.

AvalonBay Communities Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, January 15th. Investors of record on Tuesday, December 31st were paid a dividend of $1.70 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, December 31st. This represents a $6.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.08%. AvalonBay Communities’s payout ratio is 93.02%.

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.