Strs Ohio Sells 9,006 Shares of AvalonBay Communities, Inc. $AVB

Strs Ohio lowered its position in shares of AvalonBay Communities, Inc. (NYSE:AVB) by 6.3% in the first quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 132,851 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after selling 9,006 shares during the quarter. Strs Ohio’s holdings in AvalonBay Communities were worth $21,701,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. boosted its position in AvalonBay Communities by 1.8% in the third quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. now owns 3,358 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $649,000 after buying an additional 60 shares in the last quarter. Keybank National Association OH raised its stake in shares of AvalonBay Communities by 2.6% in the fourth quarter. Keybank National Association OH now owns 2,458 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $446,000 after acquiring an additional 62 shares during the last quarter. Phoenix Financial Ltd. raised its stake in shares of AvalonBay Communities by 5.7% in the fourth quarter. Phoenix Financial Ltd. now owns 1,713 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $311,000 after acquiring an additional 92 shares during the last quarter. New Mexico Educational Retirement Board boosted its holdings in shares of AvalonBay Communities by 1.6% in the 4th quarter. New Mexico Educational Retirement Board now owns 6,527 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $1,183,000 after acquiring an additional 100 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Fjarde AP Fonden Fourth Swedish National Pension Fund boosted its holdings in shares of AvalonBay Communities by 0.3% in the 4th quarter. Fjarde AP Fonden Fourth Swedish National Pension Fund now owns 29,971 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $5,434,000 after acquiring an additional 100 shares in the last quarter. 92.61% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

AVB has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. Royal Bank Of Canada increased their price target on AvalonBay Communities from $180.00 to $188.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 29th. Wolfe Research upgraded AvalonBay Communities from an “outperform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $209.00 price objective for the company in a research report on Monday, June 1st. Weiss Ratings reissued a “hold (c)” rating on shares of AvalonBay Communities in a research note on Wednesday, April 8th. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their target price on AvalonBay Communities from $193.00 to $191.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, April 23rd. Finally, Wall Street Zen upgraded AvalonBay Communities from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, May 9th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and fourteen have given a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $195.13.

AvalonBay Communities Price Performance

AVB opened at $193.62 on Friday. AvalonBay Communities, Inc. has a one year low of $160.10 and a one year high of $205.00. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.80, a current ratio of 0.62 and a quick ratio of 0.62. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $184.68 and its 200-day simple moving average is $178.34. The stock has a market capitalization of $26.93 billion, a P/E ratio of 28.06, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.38 and a beta of 0.77.

AvalonBay Communities (NYSE:AVB) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 28th. The real estate investment trust reported $2.33 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.80 by ($0.47). AvalonBay Communities had a net margin of 37.21% and a return on equity of 9.56%. The company had revenue of $770.28 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $768.80 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $2.83 EPS. Sell-side analysts anticipate that AvalonBay Communities, Inc. will post 11.28 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

AvalonBay Communities Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, July 15th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, June 30th will be paid a $1.78 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, June 30th. This represents a $7.12 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.7%. AvalonBay Communities’s dividend 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.