AvalonBay Communities, Inc. $AVB Shares Bought by New York State Common Retirement Fund

New York State Common Retirement Fund raised its stake in AvalonBay Communities, Inc. (NYSE:AVB) by 35.7% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 116,431 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after buying an additional 30,600 shares during the quarter. New York State Common Retirement Fund owned approximately 0.08% of AvalonBay Communities worth $22,491,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of AVB. Mather Group LLC. purchased a new stake in shares of AvalonBay Communities in the third quarter valued at about $30,000. Clearstead Trust LLC raised its stake in AvalonBay Communities by 62.0% during the second quarter. Clearstead Trust LLC now owns 162 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $33,000 after purchasing an additional 62 shares during the period. Headlands Technologies LLC acquired a new position in AvalonBay Communities in the 2nd quarter valued at about $36,000. Hilltop National Bank purchased a new stake in shares of AvalonBay Communities in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $58,000. Finally, Atlantic Union Bankshares Corp acquired a new stake in shares of AvalonBay Communities during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $59,000. 92.61% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

AVB has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of AvalonBay Communities in a report on Friday, January 9th. Morgan Stanley reduced their target price on AvalonBay Communities from $225.00 to $222.50 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, November 13th. Wall Street Zen raised AvalonBay Communities from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Sunday, January 25th. Colliers Securities reissued a “neutral” rating and set a $195.00 price objective (down from $200.00) on shares of AvalonBay Communities in a research report on Thursday, December 4th. Finally, Barclays upped their target price on shares of AvalonBay Communities from $216.00 to $217.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 13th. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and twelve have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $203.50.

AvalonBay Communities Trading Up 1.6%

Shares of NYSE AVB opened at $177.63 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 0.67, a quick ratio of 0.67 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.72. The stock has a market capitalization of $25.15 billion, a PE ratio of 21.69, a PEG ratio of 2.99 and a beta of 0.75. AvalonBay Communities, Inc. has a twelve month low of $166.73 and a twelve month high of $230.21. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $179.84 and a 200-day simple moving average of $185.76.

AvalonBay Communities (NYSE:AVB) last released its earnings results on Thursday, October 30th. The real estate investment trust reported $2.75 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.81 by ($0.06). The firm had revenue of $766.80 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $766.22 million. AvalonBay Communities had a net margin of 38.78% and a return on equity of 9.72%. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $2.74 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts forecast that AvalonBay Communities, Inc. will post 11.48 earnings per share for the current year.

AvalonBay Communities Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, January 15th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, December 31st were paid a $1.75 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, December 31st. This represents a $7.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.9%. AvalonBay Communities’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 85.47%.

AvalonBay Communities 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.