Short Interest in AvalonBay Communities, Inc. (NYSE:AVB) Rises By 10.5%

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

Insider Buying and Selling

In other AvalonBay Communities news, Director Timothy J. Naughton sold 23,697 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, November 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $233.47, for a total value of $5,532,538.59. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 87,239 shares in the company, valued at $20,367,689.33. This trade represents a 21.36 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. 0.48% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in AVB. State Street Corp raised its holdings in shares of AvalonBay Communities by 2.2% during the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 9,245,028 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $2,097,971,000 after buying an additional 196,938 shares in the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised its stake in AvalonBay Communities by 1.4% during the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 4,060,497 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $914,627,000 after acquiring an additional 55,588 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of AvalonBay Communities by 0.8% in the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 3,585,802 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $805,113,000 after acquiring an additional 27,988 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its position in AvalonBay Communities by 3.6% in the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 2,240,436 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $504,658,000 after buying an additional 78,800 shares in the last quarter. Finally, UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC boosted its holdings in shares of AvalonBay Communities by 678.9% during the 3rd quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 1,715,050 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $386,315,000 after acquiring an additional 1,494,872 shares in the last quarter. 92.61% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

AvalonBay Communities Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:AVB traded up $0.31 during trading on Monday, reaching $218.21. 553,916 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 517,710. The firm has a market capitalization of $31.04 billion, a PE ratio of 29.85, a PEG ratio of 2.94 and a beta of 0.99. AvalonBay Communities has a 52 week low of $169.37 and a 52 week high of $239.29. The company has a quick ratio of 1.64, a current ratio of 1.64 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.70. The company’s 50 day moving average is $224.47 and its two-hundred day moving average is $220.81.

AvalonBay Communities (NYSE:AVB) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Monday, November 4th. The real estate investment trust reported $2.61 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.71 by ($0.10). AvalonBay Communities had a return on equity of 8.84% and a net margin of 36.20%. The firm had revenue of $734.31 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $731.67 million. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $2.66 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that AvalonBay Communities will post 11.04 earnings per share for the current year.

AvalonBay Communities Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, January 15th. Investors of record on Tuesday, December 31st were paid a $1.70 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, December 31st. This represents a $6.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.12%. AvalonBay Communities’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 93.02%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

AVB has been the topic of several analyst reports. Mizuho raised shares of AvalonBay Communities from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and upped their price target for the stock from $239.00 to $242.00 in a research report on Monday, January 6th. Royal Bank of Canada dropped their target price on shares of AvalonBay Communities from $234.00 to $233.00 and set a “sector perform” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, November 6th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upgraded AvalonBay Communities from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and lifted their price target for the stock from $247.00 to $262.00 in a report on Tuesday, December 17th. Scotiabank dropped their price objective on AvalonBay Communities from $244.00 to $241.00 and set a “sector perform” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, November 14th. Finally, Barclays started coverage on AvalonBay Communities in a research note on Tuesday, December 17th. They set an “equal weight” rating and a $243.00 target price for the company. Eight equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $234.53.

About AvalonBay Communities

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.