Federated Hermes Inc. Buys 1,013 Shares of AvalonBay Communities, Inc. (NYSE:AVB)

Federated Hermes Inc. grew its stake in AvalonBay Communities, Inc. (NYSE:AVB) by 19.0% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 6,337 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after buying an additional 1,013 shares during the quarter. Federated Hermes Inc.’s holdings in AvalonBay Communities were worth $1,360,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD boosted its position in shares of AvalonBay Communities by 35.0% during the fourth quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 5,152,183 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $1,133,328,000 after acquiring an additional 1,336,698 shares during the last quarter. Cohen & Steers Inc. lifted its stake in AvalonBay Communities by 25.7% in the fourth quarter. Cohen & Steers Inc. now owns 3,130,108 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $688,527,000 after purchasing an additional 639,402 shares during the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp increased its stake in AvalonBay Communities by 54.8% in the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 2,642,743 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $581,324,000 after purchasing an additional 935,770 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its position in AvalonBay Communities by 1.1% in the 4th quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 2,094,419 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $460,711,000 after buying an additional 23,459 shares during the period. Finally, Deutsche Bank AG increased its holdings in AvalonBay Communities by 2.7% during the 4th quarter. Deutsche Bank AG now owns 2,019,562 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $444,243,000 after purchasing an additional 53,927 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 92.61% of the company’s stock.

AvalonBay Communities Stock Up 0.2%

AvalonBay Communities stock opened at $186.61 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.71, a quick ratio of 0.51 and a current ratio of 0.51. The company has a market capitalization of $26.57 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.98, a PEG ratio of 2.51 and a beta of 0.86. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $202.00 and a 200-day simple moving average of $207.81. AvalonBay Communities, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $180.40 and a fifty-two week high of $239.29.

AvalonBay Communities (NYSE:AVB) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 30th. The real estate investment trust reported $2.82 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.80 by $0.02. AvalonBay Communities had a return on equity of 9.70% and a net margin of 38.91%. The company had revenue of $689.90 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $759.08 million. During the same period last year, the firm earned $2.77 EPS. Equities research analysts expect that AvalonBay Communities, Inc. will post 11.48 earnings per share for the current year.

AvalonBay Communities Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, July 15th. Investors of record on Monday, June 30th were issued a dividend of $1.75 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, June 30th. This represents a $7.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.8%. AvalonBay Communities’s payout ratio is currently 86.21%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts have recently commented on AVB shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price target on AvalonBay Communities from $251.00 to $249.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, June 17th. Morgan Stanley raised their target price on AvalonBay Communities from $226.00 to $228.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, May 15th. Evercore ISI cut their price objective on AvalonBay Communities from $229.00 to $216.00 and set an “in-line” rating on the stock in a report on Monday. Piper Sandler restated a “neutral” rating and issued a $200.00 price objective (down from $255.00) on shares of AvalonBay Communities in a research note on Monday. Finally, Mizuho dropped their target price on AvalonBay Communities from $238.00 to $213.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, May 23rd. Ten analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $228.79.

Insider Transactions at AvalonBay Communities

In other AvalonBay Communities news, CFO Kevin P. O’shea sold 6,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, June 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $207.57, for a total value of $1,245,420.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer directly owned 22,782 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,728,859.74. This trade represents a 20.85% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, EVP Edward M. Schulman sold 5,945 shares of AvalonBay Communities stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, June 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $205.67, for a total transaction of $1,222,708.15. Following the sale, the executive vice president owned 17,617 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,623,288.39. The trade was a 25.23% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.45% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

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.