Fort Washington Investment Advisors Inc. OH Buys Shares of 144,710 AvalonBay Communities, Inc. $AVB

Fort Washington Investment Advisors Inc. OH bought a new stake in shares of AvalonBay Communities, Inc. (NYSE:AVB) during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor bought 144,710 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock, valued at approximately $26,237,000. Fort Washington Investment Advisors Inc. OH owned about 0.10% of AvalonBay Communities as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of AVB. Mather Group LLC. purchased a new position in AvalonBay Communities during the 3rd quarter valued at $30,000. BOKF NA bought a new position in AvalonBay Communities in the 3rd quarter valued at $31,000. AlphaQuest LLC purchased a new stake in AvalonBay Communities in the third quarter worth $33,000. Headlands Technologies LLC purchased a new stake in AvalonBay Communities in the second quarter worth $36,000. Finally, Fulcrum Asset Management LLP bought a new stake in shares of AvalonBay Communities during the third quarter worth $37,000. 92.61% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts have recently commented on the stock. Wall Street Zen cut shares of AvalonBay Communities from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Saturday, February 7th. Cantor Fitzgerald lifted their price objective on shares of AvalonBay Communities from $179.00 to $186.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, February 9th. Morgan Stanley reissued an “equal weight” rating and issued a $203.00 price objective (down from $208.00) on shares of AvalonBay Communities in a research report on Thursday. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft downgraded shares of AvalonBay Communities from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $172.00 target price on the stock. in a research note on Tuesday, January 20th. Finally, Barclays reduced their target price on shares of AvalonBay Communities from $217.00 to $202.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, March 6th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and fourteen have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $198.44.

AvalonBay Communities Stock Performance

AVB stock opened at $160.88 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.79, a current ratio of 0.77 and a quick ratio of 0.77. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $174.04 and a 200 day moving average price of $180.20. The company has a market capitalization of $22.54 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.64, a PEG ratio of 2.86 and a beta of 0.75. AvalonBay Communities, Inc. has a 1-year low of $160.35 and a 1-year high of $216.47.

AvalonBay Communities (NYSE:AVB) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 5th. The real estate investment trust reported $2.85 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.84 by $0.01. The company had revenue of $767.86 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $766.38 million. AvalonBay Communities had a net margin of 34.57% and a return on equity of 8.78%. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $2.80 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that AvalonBay Communities, Inc. will post 11.48 EPS for the current fiscal year.

AvalonBay Communities Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 15th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, March 31st will be paid a dividend of $1.78 per share. This is a boost from AvalonBay Communities’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.75. This represents a $7.12 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.4%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, March 31st. AvalonBay Communities’s payout ratio is 85.47%.

AvalonBay Communities Company 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.