Bank of Nova Scotia Cuts Stake in AvalonBay Communities, Inc. $AVB

Bank of Nova Scotia lessened its stake in AvalonBay Communities, Inc. (NYSE:AVB) by 11.3% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 30,580 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after selling 3,890 shares during the quarter. Bank of Nova Scotia’s holdings in AvalonBay Communities were worth $4,995,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Reflection Asset Management purchased a new stake in AvalonBay Communities during the 4th quarter worth $25,000. Clearstead Trust LLC grew its stake in shares of AvalonBay Communities by 56.0% in the first quarter. Clearstead Trust LLC now owns 156 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $25,000 after buying an additional 56 shares in the last quarter. Zions Bancorporation National Association UT raised its holdings in shares of AvalonBay Communities by 300.0% during the 4th quarter. Zions Bancorporation National Association UT now owns 160 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $29,000 after buying an additional 120 shares during the period. BOKF NA purchased a new stake in shares of AvalonBay Communities during the 3rd quarter valued at about $31,000. Finally, Elyxium Wealth LLC acquired a new position in AvalonBay Communities during the 4th quarter worth approximately $32,000. 92.61% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

AVB has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. UBS Group dropped their price objective on shares of AvalonBay Communities from $191.00 to $189.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, May 14th. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of AvalonBay Communities from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, May 9th. Royal Bank Of Canada raised their price target on shares of AvalonBay Communities from $180.00 to $188.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 29th. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price target on shares of AvalonBay Communities from $193.00 to $191.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, April 23rd. Finally, Scotiabank upped their price objective on shares of AvalonBay Communities from $187.00 to $195.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 9th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and fifteen have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $196.80.

AvalonBay Communities Price Performance

NYSE AVB opened at $187.69 on Tuesday. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $187.54 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $179.46. AvalonBay Communities, Inc. has a 52 week low of $160.10 and a 52 week high of $203.29. The stock has a market cap of $26.66 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.20, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.30 and a beta of 0.77. The company has a current ratio of 0.62, a quick ratio of 0.62 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.74.

AvalonBay Communities (NYSE:AVB) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 22nd. The real estate investment trust reported $1.11 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.23 by ($0.12). The business had revenue of $777.77 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $772.37 million. AvalonBay Communities had a return on equity of 8.58% and a net margin of 33.33%.During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $2.82 EPS. Analysts forecast that AvalonBay Communities, Inc. will post 11.28 EPS for the current year.

AvalonBay Communities Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, July 15th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, June 30th were paid a dividend of $1.78 per share. This represents a $7.12 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.8%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, June 30th. AvalonBay Communities’s payout ratio is 103.19%.

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.