Handelsbanken Fonder AB Grows Position in AvalonBay Communities, Inc. (NYSE:AVB)

Handelsbanken Fonder AB boosted its stake in AvalonBay Communities, Inc. (NYSE:AVB) by 9.0% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 91,673 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after buying an additional 7,605 shares during the quarter. Handelsbanken Fonder AB’s holdings in AvalonBay Communities were worth $20,165,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the stock. Ieq Capital LLC raised its position in AvalonBay Communities by 79.9% in the 4th quarter. Ieq Capital LLC now owns 4,828 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $1,062,000 after buying an additional 2,145 shares during the last quarter. Private Advisor Group LLC grew its stake in AvalonBay Communities by 2.6% in the 4th quarter. Private Advisor Group LLC now owns 2,512 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $553,000 after purchasing an additional 63 shares during the period. Global Retirement Partners LLC grew its stake in AvalonBay Communities by 146.2% in the 4th quarter. Global Retirement Partners LLC now owns 544 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $120,000 after purchasing an additional 323 shares during the period. Kentucky Retirement Systems Insurance Trust Fund grew its stake in AvalonBay Communities by 2.4% in the 4th quarter. Kentucky Retirement Systems Insurance Trust Fund now owns 4,308 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $948,000 after purchasing an additional 103 shares during the period. Finally, Venturi Wealth Management LLC grew its stake in AvalonBay Communities by 130.8% in the 4th quarter. Venturi Wealth Management LLC now owns 607 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $134,000 after purchasing an additional 344 shares during the period. 92.61% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts have issued reports on the company. Mizuho upgraded AvalonBay Communities from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and upped their price objective for the company from $239.00 to $242.00 in a research note on Monday, January 6th. Piper Sandler cut their price target on AvalonBay Communities from $270.00 to $265.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, February 11th. Scotiabank cut their price target on AvalonBay Communities from $244.00 to $241.00 and set a “sector perform” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, November 14th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upgraded AvalonBay Communities from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and increased their price target for the stock from $247.00 to $262.00 in a research note on Tuesday, December 17th. Finally, Barclays cut their target price on AvalonBay Communities from $230.00 to $226.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday. Eight investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $235.47.

AvalonBay Communities Stock Performance

NYSE:AVB opened at $218.78 on Friday. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $218.76 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $222.86. AvalonBay Communities, Inc. has a twelve month low of $172.85 and a twelve month high of $239.29. The stock has a market cap of $31.12 billion, a P/E ratio of 28.82, a PEG ratio of 3.09 and a beta of 0.99. The company has a quick ratio of 1.64, a current ratio of 1.64 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.68.

AvalonBay Communities (NYSE:AVB) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 5th. The real estate investment trust reported $2.80 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.83 by ($0.03). AvalonBay Communities had a net margin of 37.13% and a return on equity of 9.15%. As a group, equities analysts predict that AvalonBay Communities, Inc. will post 11.48 EPS for the current fiscal year.

AvalonBay Communities Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 15th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 31st will be issued a $1.75 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 31st. This represents a $7.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.20%. This is a boost from AvalonBay Communities’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.70. AvalonBay Communities’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 92.23%.

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.