DAVENPORT & Co LLC Acquires New Shares in AvalonBay Communities, Inc. (NYSE:AVB)

DAVENPORT & Co LLC acquired a new stake in AvalonBay Communities, Inc. (NYSE:AVB) in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm acquired 1,076 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock, valued at approximately $201,000.

Several other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Vanderbilt University increased its stake in AvalonBay Communities by 1.6% in the 3rd quarter. Vanderbilt University now owns 3,728 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $640,000 after purchasing an additional 57 shares in the last quarter. Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV increased its stake in AvalonBay Communities by 1.4% in the 3rd quarter. Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV now owns 4,387 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $753,000 after purchasing an additional 62 shares in the last quarter. Janiczek Wealth Management LLC increased its stake in AvalonBay Communities by 11.8% in the 3rd quarter. Janiczek Wealth Management LLC now owns 624 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $107,000 after purchasing an additional 66 shares in the last quarter. First Affirmative Financial Network grew its holdings in AvalonBay Communities by 4.8% during the 4th quarter. First Affirmative Financial Network now owns 1,494 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $280,000 after buying an additional 69 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Atria Investments Inc grew its holdings in AvalonBay Communities by 0.7% during the 3rd quarter. Atria Investments Inc now owns 10,723 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $1,842,000 after buying an additional 79 shares during the last quarter. 92.61% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

AvalonBay Communities Stock Down 0.1 %

Shares of NYSE AVB opened at $185.95 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.68, a quick ratio of 1.44 and a current ratio of 1.44. The firm has a market cap of $26.44 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.39, a PEG ratio of 3.46 and a beta of 0.92. AvalonBay Communities, Inc. has a 1 year low of $160.45 and a 1 year high of $198.65. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $180.15 and its 200-day simple moving average is $177.58.

AvalonBay Communities (NYSE:AVB) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 6th. The real estate investment trust reported $1.70 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.73 by ($1.03). The firm had revenue of $704.71 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $701.67 million. AvalonBay Communities had a net margin of 33.56% and a return on equity of 7.98%. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $2.59 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that AvalonBay Communities, Inc. will post 10.82 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

AvalonBay Communities Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, April 15th. Investors of record on Thursday, March 28th will be issued a $1.70 dividend. This is a positive change from AvalonBay Communities’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.65. This represents a $6.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.66%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, March 27th. AvalonBay Communities’s payout ratio is currently 103.82%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have commented on AVB. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated a “sector perform” rating and set a $185.00 target price on shares of AvalonBay Communities in a report on Friday, February 2nd. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft began coverage on AvalonBay Communities in a report on Tuesday, January 30th. They set a “buy” rating and a $206.00 target price on the stock. Wolfe Research cut AvalonBay Communities from an “outperform” rating to a “peer perform” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 2nd. Piper Sandler reiterated an “overweight” rating and set a $207.00 target price on shares of AvalonBay Communities in a report on Tuesday, March 26th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group reiterated a “neutral” rating and set a $191.00 target price on shares of AvalonBay Communities in a report on Thursday, February 22nd. Nine investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $196.78.

Insider Activity at AvalonBay Communities

In other AvalonBay Communities news, EVP Joanne M. Lockridge sold 1,750 shares of AvalonBay Communities stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, March 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $185.10, for a total value of $323,925.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 21,907 shares in the company, valued at $4,054,985.70. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In other AvalonBay Communities news, EVP Joanne M. Lockridge sold 1,750 shares of AvalonBay Communities stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, March 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $185.10, for a total value of $323,925.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 21,907 shares in the company, valued at $4,054,985.70. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CFO Kevin P. O’shea sold 5,000 shares of AvalonBay Communities stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $185.65, for a total value of $928,250.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 31,308 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,812,330.20. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.48% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

AvalonBay Communities Profile

As of December 31, 2023, the Company owned or held a direct or indirect ownership interest in 299 apartment communities containing 90,669 apartment homes in 12 states and the District of Columbia, of which 18 communities were under development. The Company is an equity REIT in the business of developing, redeveloping, acquiring and managing apartment communities in leading metropolitan areas in New England, the New York/New Jersey Metro area, the Mid-Atlantic, the Pacific Northwest, and Northern and Southern California, as well as in the Company's expansion regions of Raleigh-Durham and Charlotte, North Carolina, Southeast Florida, Dallas and Austin, Texas, and Denver, Colorado.