Ontario Teachers Pension Plan Board Acquires New Shares in AvalonBay Communities, Inc. (NYSE:AVB)

Ontario Teachers Pension Plan Board acquired a new stake in AvalonBay Communities, Inc. (NYSE:AVB) in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm acquired 1,618 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock, valued at approximately $272,000.

Several other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. BOS Asset Management LLC increased its stake in AvalonBay Communities by 4.6% in the 1st quarter. BOS Asset Management LLC now owns 1,346 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $226,000 after purchasing an additional 59 shares in the last quarter. Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. increased its position in AvalonBay Communities by 3.2% during the fourth quarter. Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. now owns 1,920 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $310,000 after buying an additional 60 shares in the last quarter. Kentucky Retirement Systems increased its position in AvalonBay Communities by 0.6% during the first quarter. Kentucky Retirement Systems now owns 11,061 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $1,859,000 after buying an additional 67 shares in the last quarter. Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Public School Empls Retrmt SYS increased its position in AvalonBay Communities by 0.3% during the first quarter. Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Public School Empls Retrmt SYS now owns 23,716 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $3,986,000 after buying an additional 69 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Moody National Bank Trust Division increased its position in AvalonBay Communities by 5.6% during the first quarter. Moody National Bank Trust Division now owns 1,379 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $232,000 after buying an additional 73 shares in the last quarter. 88.71% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at AvalonBay Communities

In other AvalonBay Communities news, EVP Joanne M. Lockridge sold 3,331 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $186.25, for a total value of $620,398.75. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 21,558 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,015,177.50. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. 0.42% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have weighed in on AVB. KeyCorp raised their price target on AvalonBay Communities from $193.00 to $205.00 in a research report on Wednesday, July 12th. BMO Capital Markets raised their price target on AvalonBay Communities from $200.00 to $215.00 in a research report on Tuesday, July 18th. Truist Financial raised their price target on AvalonBay Communities from $190.00 to $211.00 in a research report on Wednesday, June 14th. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price objective on AvalonBay Communities from $201.00 to $192.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, September 12th. Finally, StockNews.com started coverage on AvalonBay Communities in a report on Thursday, August 17th. They set a “hold” rating on the stock. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have given a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $196.82.

AvalonBay Communities Price Performance

Shares of AvalonBay Communities stock opened at $183.89 on Monday. AvalonBay Communities, Inc. has a twelve month low of $153.07 and a twelve month high of $202.36. The stock has a market capitalization of $26.12 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.69, a PEG ratio of 2.94 and a beta of 0.93. The company has a current ratio of 2.49, a quick ratio of 2.49 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.68. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $185.82 and its 200 day moving average price is $179.45.

AvalonBay Communities (NYSE:AVB) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, August 1st. The real estate investment trust reported $2.59 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.60 by ($0.01). AvalonBay Communities had a net margin of 46.32% and a return on equity of 11.01%. The company had revenue of $690.86 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $675.67 million. During the same period last year, the business earned $2.43 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts anticipate that AvalonBay Communities, Inc. will post 10.56 earnings per share for the current year.

AvalonBay Communities Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, October 16th. Shareholders of record on Friday, September 29th will be given a $1.65 dividend. This represents a $6.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.59%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, September 28th. AvalonBay Communities’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 74.24%.

AvalonBay Communities Company Profile

As of June 30, 2023, the Company owned or held a direct or indirect ownership interest in 294 apartment communities containing 88,659 apartment homes in 12 states and the District of Columbia, of which 18 communities were under development and one community was under redevelopment. The Company is an equity REIT in the business of developing, redeveloping, acquiring and managing apartment communities in leading metropolitan areas in New England, the New York/New Jersey Metro area, the Mid-Atlantic, the Pacific Northwest, and Northern and Southern California, as well as in the Company's expansion regions of Raleigh-Durham and Charlotte, North Carolina, Southeast Florida, Dallas and Austin, Texas, and Denver, Colorado.