Real Estate Fund AEW Capital’s 13F Holdings Boast Solid Gains

Amid an over 10% rise of Prologis Inc (NYSE:PLD)‘s stock during the fourth quarter, AEW Capital Management, raised its position in the company by 9% to 6.38 million shares. During the same period, billionaire David E. Shaw‘s firm, D. E. Shaw & Co., reduced its holding in the company by 71% to 256,001 shares. Shares of Prologis Inc (NYSE:PLD) went through a V-shaped move during the first quarter, ending it up by almost 4%. Although the stock currently trades at nearly 17 times its 2016 projected funds from operations (FFO) multiple, analysts believe that it is undervalued and has a 20% upside potential through multiple expansion alone. The company has been consistently hiking its dividend for the past 13 years and boasts of a five year dividend growth rate of 3.8%. It currently pays a quarterly dividend of $0.42, which based on its current stock price translates into an annual dividend yield of 3.82%. On March 16, analysts at Credit Suisse reiterated their ‘Outperform’ rating and $48 price target on the stock.

AEW Capital Management has held a stake in AvalonBay Communities Inc (NYSE:AVB) for more than 15 years. During the October-December period, the fund raised its holding in the REIT by 5% to 1.58 million shares. Another fund that increased its stake in the REIT during the same period was Phill Gross and Robert Atchinson‘s Adage Capital Management, which brought its holding up by 3% to 207,282 shares. Though AvalonBay Communities Inc (NYSE:AVB) ended the first quarter up by 4%, it has given up those gains this month and currently trades flat for the year. On March 1, the REIT reiterated that it expects rental revenue for Established Communities for the first quarter of 2016 to increase between 5.4% and 5.6% over the prior year period. AvalonBay Communities Inc (NYSE:AVB) is expected to report its first quarter numbers by the end of this month and analysts project it to report EPS of $2.03 on revenue of $484.29 million. For the same quarter of the previous financial year the REIT had reported EPS of $1.88 on revenue of $439.76 million.