Auto Owners Insurance Co Buys 11,720,150 Shares of AvalonBay Communities, Inc. $AVB

Auto Owners Insurance Co lifted its stake in AvalonBay Communities, Inc. (NYSE:AVB) by 18,031.0% during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 11,785,150 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after purchasing an additional 11,720,150 shares during the quarter. Auto Owners Insurance Co owned about 0.08% of AvalonBay Communities worth $213,677,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in AVB. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. raised its stake in AvalonBay Communities by 1.8% during the 3rd quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. now owns 3,358 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $649,000 after acquiring an additional 60 shares during the period. Keybank National Association OH raised its position in shares of AvalonBay Communities by 2.6% during the 4th quarter. Keybank National Association OH now owns 2,458 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $446,000 after purchasing an additional 62 shares during the period. Phoenix Financial Ltd. lifted its stake in shares of AvalonBay Communities by 5.7% during the 4th quarter. Phoenix Financial Ltd. now owns 1,713 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $311,000 after buying an additional 92 shares in the last quarter. New Mexico Educational Retirement Board boosted its holdings in AvalonBay Communities by 1.6% in the 4th quarter. New Mexico Educational Retirement Board now owns 6,527 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $1,183,000 after buying an additional 100 shares during the period. Finally, Fjarde AP Fonden Fourth Swedish National Pension Fund boosted its holdings in AvalonBay Communities by 0.3% in the 4th quarter. Fjarde AP Fonden Fourth Swedish National Pension Fund now owns 29,971 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $5,434,000 after buying an additional 100 shares during the period. 92.61% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

AvalonBay Communities Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:AVB opened at $177.55 on Friday. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $181.32 and its 200-day simple moving average is $177.65. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.80, a quick ratio of 0.62 and a current ratio of 0.62. AvalonBay Communities, Inc. has a one year low of $160.10 and a one year high of $209.86. The firm has a market cap of $24.70 billion, a PE ratio of 25.73, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.09 and a beta of 0.78.

AvalonBay Communities (NYSE:AVB) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 28th. The real estate investment trust reported $2.33 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.80 by ($0.47). The firm had revenue of $770.28 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $768.80 million. AvalonBay Communities had a net margin of 37.21% and a return on equity of 9.56%. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $2.83 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts predict that AvalonBay Communities, Inc. will post 11.28 EPS for the current year.

AvalonBay Communities Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, July 15th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, June 30th will be paid a dividend of $1.78 per share. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, June 30th. This represents a $7.12 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.0%. AvalonBay Communities’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 103.19%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

AVB has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Wolfe Research raised AvalonBay Communities from an “outperform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $209.00 price target on the stock in a report on Monday, June 1st. Scotiabank dropped their price objective on AvalonBay Communities from $190.00 to $187.00 and set a “sector perform” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, May 14th. Wall Street Zen upgraded AvalonBay Communities from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, May 9th. Weiss Ratings reissued a “hold (c)” rating on shares of AvalonBay Communities in a research note on Wednesday, April 8th. Finally, Barclays lowered their price target on AvalonBay Communities from $206.00 to $203.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, May 11th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and thirteen have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, AvalonBay Communities presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $195.13.

AvalonBay Communities Company Profile

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.