Bahl & Gaynor Inc. Makes New Investment in AvalonBay Communities, Inc. $AVB

Bahl & Gaynor Inc. bought a new position in AvalonBay Communities, Inc. (NYSE:AVB) in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund bought 245,420 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock, valued at approximately $49,943,000. Bahl & Gaynor Inc. owned about 0.17% of AvalonBay Communities as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other large investors have also modified their holdings of AVB. Nuveen LLC acquired a new position in AvalonBay Communities in the first quarter worth about $280,226,000. PGGM Investments lifted its holdings in AvalonBay Communities by 7,782.9% during the 2nd quarter. PGGM Investments now owns 478,966 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $97,470,000 after buying an additional 472,890 shares during the last quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD grew its position in shares of AvalonBay Communities by 7.1% in the 1st quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 5,520,036 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $1,184,712,000 after acquiring an additional 367,853 shares in the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased its holdings in shares of AvalonBay Communities by 4.0% in the 2nd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 3,966,650 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $807,220,000 after acquiring an additional 152,220 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Strs Ohio bought a new stake in shares of AvalonBay Communities in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $30,453,000. Institutional investors own 92.61% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts have commented on the stock. BNP Paribas downgraded shares of AvalonBay Communities from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, September 29th. Mizuho restated a “neutral” rating and issued a $199.00 price target (down from $213.00) on shares of AvalonBay Communities in a research report on Thursday, August 14th. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “hold (c)” rating on shares of AvalonBay Communities in a report on Tuesday, October 14th. Royal Bank Of Canada dropped their price objective on shares of AvalonBay Communities from $202.00 to $197.00 and set a “sector perform” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, November 4th. Finally, Scotiabank cut their target price on shares of AvalonBay Communities from $215.00 to $193.00 and set a “sector perform” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, November 4th. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and twelve have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $209.35.

AvalonBay Communities Stock Performance

Shares of AVB stock opened at $180.40 on Friday. AvalonBay Communities, Inc. has a 12-month low of $166.73 and a 12-month high of $239.29. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.71, a current ratio of 0.70 and a quick ratio of 0.70. The firm has a market capitalization of $25.54 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.03, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.54 and a beta of 0.84. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $184.96 and a 200 day simple moving average of $194.45.

AvalonBay Communities (NYSE:AVB) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 30th. The real estate investment trust reported $2.75 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.81 by ($0.06). AvalonBay Communities had a return on equity of 9.75% and a net margin of 38.78%.The business had revenue of $766.80 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $766.22 million. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $2.74 EPS. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that AvalonBay Communities, Inc. will post 11.48 EPS for the current year.

AvalonBay Communities Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, January 15th. Investors of record on Wednesday, December 31st will be given a $1.75 dividend. This represents a $7.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.9%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, December 31st. AvalonBay Communities’s dividend payout ratio is currently 85.47%.

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.