Palogic Value Management L.P. Invests $853,000 in AvalonBay Communities, Inc. $AVB

Palogic Value Management L.P. purchased a new position in shares of AvalonBay Communities, Inc. (NYSE:AVB) in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm purchased 4,518 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock, valued at approximately $853,000.

Several other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in AVB. B&I Capital AG bought a new position in shares of AvalonBay Communities during the 1st quarter worth approximately $11,194,000. Principal Financial Group Inc. boosted its stake in AvalonBay Communities by 9.3% during the fourth quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 4,497,047 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $815,360,000 after acquiring an additional 383,983 shares in the last quarter. Empyrean Capital Partners LP bought a new position in AvalonBay Communities during the first quarter worth $9,474,000. Pacer Advisors Inc. grew its holdings in AvalonBay Communities by 42.5% in the fourth quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 16,167 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $2,931,000 after purchasing an additional 4,820 shares during the period. Finally, Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. increased its stake in AvalonBay Communities by 5.1% in the fourth quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 408,956 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $73,808,000 after purchasing an additional 19,789 shares in the last quarter. 92.61% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have recently commented on AVB. Royal Bank Of Canada raised their target price on AvalonBay Communities from $180.00 to $188.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 29th. Cantor Fitzgerald reiterated a “neutral” rating and issued a $190.00 price target on shares of AvalonBay Communities in a report on Wednesday, August 19th. Barclays raised their price objective on AvalonBay Communities from $205.00 to $206.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday, August 17th. Weiss Ratings lowered AvalonBay Communities from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “hold (c)” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 6th. Finally, Scotiabank lifted their price target on shares of AvalonBay Communities from $187.00 to $195.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 9th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and fifteen have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, AvalonBay Communities has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $196.87.

AvalonBay Communities Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:AVB opened at $184.06 on Thursday. The company has a current ratio of 0.54, a quick ratio of 0.54 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.74. The stock has a market cap of $26.28 billion, a PE ratio of 30.08, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.98 and a beta of 0.76. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $187.76 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $180.67. AvalonBay Communities, Inc. has a 1-year low of $160.10 and a 1-year high of $198.63.

AvalonBay Communities (NYSE:AVB) last announced its earnings results 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 firm had revenue of $777.77 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $772.37 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $2.82 EPS. As a group, analysts forecast that AvalonBay Communities, Inc. will post 11.33 EPS for the current fiscal year.

AvalonBay Communities Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, July 15th. Investors of record on Tuesday, June 30th were given a dividend of $1.78 per share. This represents a $7.12 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.9%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, June 30th. AvalonBay Communities’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 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.