Ramirez Asset Management Inc. Lowers Stock Holdings in AvalonBay Communities, Inc. $AVB

Ramirez Asset Management Inc. reduced its position in AvalonBay Communities, Inc. (NYSE:AVB) by 86.3% in the third quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 1,586 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after selling 9,955 shares during the quarter. Ramirez Asset Management Inc.’s holdings in AvalonBay Communities were worth $306,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its position in AvalonBay Communities by 0.6% in the 2nd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 22,800,375 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $4,639,876,000 after buying an additional 127,693 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp grew its position in AvalonBay Communities by 2.0% during the second quarter. State Street Corp now owns 9,445,499 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $1,938,326,000 after acquiring an additional 182,952 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new position in shares of AvalonBay Communities during the second quarter worth approximately $1,394,225,000. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised its stake in shares of AvalonBay Communities by 6.3% during the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 4,215,821 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $814,376,000 after acquiring an additional 249,171 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of AvalonBay Communities by 1.5% in the 2nd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 3,875,614 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $785,551,000 after acquiring an additional 57,599 shares during the last quarter. 92.61% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts recently commented on AVB shares. Morgan Stanley reduced their target price on shares of AvalonBay Communities from $225.00 to $222.50 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, November 13th. Truist Financial lowered their price target on shares of AvalonBay Communities from $203.00 to $201.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday. Royal Bank Of Canada cut their price target on shares of AvalonBay Communities from $191.00 to $187.00 and set a “sector perform” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, February 6th. UBS Group reduced their price objective on AvalonBay Communities from $192.00 to $191.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, January 8th. Finally, Colliers Securities reiterated a “neutral” rating and issued a $195.00 price objective (down from $200.00) on shares of AvalonBay Communities in a report on Thursday, December 4th. Five analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and thirteen have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $199.66.

AvalonBay Communities Trading Down 0.8%

Shares of NYSE:AVB opened at $177.94 on Friday. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $178.24 and its 200-day moving average price is $182.87. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.79, a current ratio of 0.77 and a quick ratio of 0.67. The company has a market cap of $24.93 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.73, a PEG ratio of 3.14 and a beta of 0.75. AvalonBay Communities, Inc. has a 1 year low of $166.73 and a 1 year high of $222.38.

AvalonBay Communities (NYSE:AVB) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 5th. The real estate investment trust reported $2.85 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.84 by $0.01. AvalonBay Communities had a net margin of 34.57% and a return on equity of 8.78%. The company had revenue of $767.86 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $766.38 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $2.80 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts expect that AvalonBay Communities, Inc. will post 11.48 earnings per share for the current year.

AvalonBay Communities Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 15th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, March 31st will be paid a $1.78 dividend. This is an increase from AvalonBay Communities’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.75. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, March 31st. This represents a $7.12 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.0%. AvalonBay Communities’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 85.47%.

About AvalonBay Communities

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.