Kentucky Retirement Systems Insurance Trust Fund Purchases 103 Shares of AvalonBay Communities, Inc. (NYSE:AVB)

Kentucky Retirement Systems Insurance Trust Fund grew its position in AvalonBay Communities, Inc. (NYSE:AVB) by 2.4% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 4,308 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after buying an additional 103 shares during the quarter. Kentucky Retirement Systems Insurance Trust Fund’s holdings in AvalonBay Communities were worth $948,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of AVB. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC increased its holdings in shares of AvalonBay Communities by 678.9% in the third 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 purchasing an additional 1,494,872 shares in the last quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of AvalonBay Communities in the third quarter valued at approximately $581,960,000. State Street Corp increased its holdings in shares of AvalonBay Communities by 2.2% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 9,245,028 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $2,097,971,000 after purchasing an additional 196,938 shares in the last quarter. KBC Group NV increased its holdings in shares of AvalonBay Communities by 284.8% in the third quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 146,429 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $32,983,000 after purchasing an additional 108,371 shares in the last quarter. Finally, BNP Paribas Financial Markets increased its holdings in shares of AvalonBay Communities by 54.8% in the third quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 259,531 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $58,459,000 after purchasing an additional 91,861 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.61% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts recently weighed in on AVB shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised shares of AvalonBay Communities from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and raised their price target for the company from $247.00 to $262.00 in a report on Tuesday, December 17th. Evercore ISI raised their price target on shares of AvalonBay Communities from $230.00 to $240.00 and gave the company an “in-line” rating in a report on Monday, February 10th. Zelman & Associates raised shares of AvalonBay Communities from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, February 13th. Mizuho raised shares of AvalonBay Communities from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and lifted their target price for the stock from $239.00 to $242.00 in a report on Monday, January 6th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada lifted their target price on shares of AvalonBay Communities from $226.00 to $229.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a report on Friday, February 7th. Eight analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $235.73.

AvalonBay Communities Price Performance

AVB opened at $217.94 on Wednesday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.64, a current ratio of 1.64 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.68. AvalonBay Communities, Inc. has a 12 month low of $172.85 and a 12 month high of $239.29. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $219.26 and a 200 day simple moving average of $222.82. The stock has a market cap of $31.00 billion, a P/E ratio of 28.71, a P/E/G ratio of 3.10 and a beta of 0.99.

AvalonBay Communities (NYSE:AVB) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 5th. The real estate investment trust reported $2.80 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.83 by ($0.03). AvalonBay Communities had a net margin of 37.13% and a return on equity of 9.15%. On average, research analysts expect that AvalonBay Communities, Inc. will post 11.53 EPS for the current year.

AvalonBay Communities Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 15th. Investors of record on Monday, March 31st will be given a $1.75 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 31st. This represents a $7.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.21%. This is a boost from AvalonBay Communities’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.70. AvalonBay Communities’s dividend payout ratio is currently 89.59%.

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.