AvalonBay Communities, Inc. (NYSE:AVB) Shares Sold by Renaissance Group LLC

Renaissance Group LLC trimmed its holdings in shares of AvalonBay Communities, Inc. (NYSE:AVB) by 7.3% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 1,202 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after selling 94 shares during the quarter. Renaissance Group LLC’s holdings in AvalonBay Communities were worth $264,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Stifel Financial Corp grew its holdings in shares of AvalonBay Communities by 10.4% in the 3rd quarter. Stifel Financial Corp now owns 76,531 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $17,239,000 after acquiring an additional 7,195 shares during the last quarter. iA Global Asset Management Inc. purchased a new position in AvalonBay Communities in the 3rd quarter worth about $922,000. Orion Portfolio Solutions LLC raised its holdings in AvalonBay Communities by 14.8% during the 3rd quarter. Orion Portfolio Solutions LLC now owns 8,230 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $1,854,000 after buying an additional 1,060 shares during the period. MML Investors Services LLC lifted its stake in AvalonBay Communities by 19.4% during the third quarter. MML Investors Services LLC now owns 3,005 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $677,000 after buying an additional 489 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. boosted its holdings in shares of AvalonBay Communities by 1.8% in the third quarter. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 221,905 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $49,984,000 after buying an additional 4,019 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 92.61% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts have recently issued reports on AVB shares. Royal Bank of Canada increased their target price on AvalonBay Communities from $226.00 to $229.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a report on Friday, February 7th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upgraded AvalonBay Communities from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and boosted their target price for the stock from $247.00 to $262.00 in a report on Tuesday, December 17th. Piper Sandler dropped their price objective on AvalonBay Communities from $270.00 to $265.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, February 11th. Mizuho upgraded shares of AvalonBay Communities from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and upped their target price for the company from $239.00 to $242.00 in a research note on Monday, January 6th. Finally, Morgan Stanley downgraded AvalonBay Communities from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and reduced their price objective for the stock from $236.00 to $223.00 in a research report on Friday, January 24th. Eight analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $237.40.

AvalonBay Communities Price Performance

AvalonBay Communities stock opened at $187.15 on Wednesday. The business’s fifty day moving average is $214.92 and its two-hundred day moving average is $220.73. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.68, a quick ratio of 1.64 and a current ratio of 1.64. The firm has a market cap of $26.64 billion, a P/E ratio of 24.66, a P/E/G ratio of 3.11 and a beta of 0.86. AvalonBay Communities, Inc. has a 52 week low of $177.40 and a 52 week high of $239.29.

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

AvalonBay Communities Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 15th. Investors of record on Monday, March 31st will be given a $1.75 dividend. This represents a $7.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.74%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 31st. This is a boost from AvalonBay Communities’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.70. AvalonBay Communities’s payout ratio is 92.23%.

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.