AvalonBay Communities, Inc. $AVB Shares Bought by Varma Mutual Pension Insurance Co

Varma Mutual Pension Insurance Co raised its stake in shares of AvalonBay Communities, Inc. (NYSE:AVB) by 8.6% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 62,161 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after acquiring an additional 4,900 shares during the period. Varma Mutual Pension Insurance Co’s holdings in AvalonBay Communities were worth $12,008,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its position in shares of AvalonBay Communities by 0.6% during 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 purchasing an additional 127,693 shares during the period. State Street Corp lifted its stake 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 worth $1,938,326,000 after purchasing an additional 182,952 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new position in shares of AvalonBay Communities during the second quarter worth $1,394,225,000. JPMorgan Chase & Co. grew its stake in shares of AvalonBay Communities by 4.0% in the second quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 3,966,650 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $807,220,000 after buying an additional 152,220 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC raised 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 valued at $785,551,000 after buying an additional 57,599 shares during the period. 92.61% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts recently commented on the company. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft cut AvalonBay Communities from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $172.00 target price for the company. in a report on Tuesday, January 20th. Scotiabank lowered their price objective on shares of AvalonBay Communities from $215.00 to $193.00 and set a “sector perform” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, November 4th. Wall Street Zen cut shares of AvalonBay Communities from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Saturday, February 7th. Truist Financial cut their target price on shares of AvalonBay Communities from $205.00 to $203.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, January 20th. Finally, Piper Sandler decreased their price target on shares of AvalonBay Communities from $190.00 to $183.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Monday. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and twelve have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, AvalonBay Communities currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $201.10.

AvalonBay Communities Stock Down 2.4%

AvalonBay Communities stock opened at $175.47 on Friday. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $178.78 and its two-hundred day moving average is $184.17. The stock has a market cap of $24.85 billion, a PE ratio of 23.78, a P/E/G ratio of 3.16 and a beta of 0.76. AvalonBay Communities, Inc. has a 1-year low of $166.73 and a 1-year high of $230.21. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.79, a current ratio of 0.67 and a quick ratio of 0.67.

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

AvalonBay Communities Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 15th. Investors of record on Tuesday, March 31st will be given a $1.78 dividend. This is a positive change from AvalonBay Communities’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.75. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, March 31st. This represents a $7.12 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.1%. AvalonBay Communities’s payout ratio is 94.85%.

AvalonBay Communities 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.