AvalonBay Communities, Inc. $AVB Shares Sold by Knights of Columbus Asset Advisors LLC

Knights of Columbus Asset Advisors LLC lessened its holdings in shares of AvalonBay Communities, Inc. (NYSE:AVB) by 21.7% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 15,831 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after selling 4,389 shares during the period. Knights of Columbus Asset Advisors LLC’s holdings in AvalonBay Communities were worth $3,058,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of AvalonBay Communities in the second quarter valued at approximately $1,394,225,000. Invesco Ltd. grew its holdings in AvalonBay Communities by 70.2% in the 2nd quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 2,593,727 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $527,823,000 after buying an additional 1,069,793 shares in the last quarter. Bank of America Corp DE increased its stake in shares of AvalonBay Communities by 77.1% in the 2nd quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 1,338,552 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $272,395,000 after acquiring an additional 582,724 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its stake in shares of AvalonBay Communities by 23.2% in the 2nd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 2,816,163 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $573,091,000 after acquiring an additional 530,274 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Bahl & Gaynor Inc. purchased a new position in shares of AvalonBay Communities during the 2nd quarter worth $49,943,000. 92.61% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts recently issued reports on AVB shares. UBS Group dropped their price objective on shares of AvalonBay Communities from $192.00 to $191.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, January 8th. Royal Bank Of Canada dropped their price target on shares of AvalonBay Communities from $202.00 to $197.00 and set a “sector perform” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, November 4th. Weiss Ratings restated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of AvalonBay Communities in a report on Friday, January 9th. Truist Financial decreased their price objective on AvalonBay Communities from $205.00 to $203.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, January 20th. Finally, Morgan Stanley cut their target price on AvalonBay Communities from $225.00 to $222.50 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, November 13th. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and twelve have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, AvalonBay Communities presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $203.50.

AvalonBay Communities Stock Up 1.6%

Shares of NYSE AVB opened at $177.63 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.67, a current ratio of 0.67 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.72. The business’s 50 day moving average is $179.84 and its two-hundred day moving average is $185.86. AvalonBay Communities, Inc. has a 52-week low of $166.73 and a 52-week high of $230.21. The firm has a market cap of $25.15 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.69, a PEG ratio of 2.99 and a beta of 0.75.

AvalonBay Communities (NYSE:AVB) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 30th. The real estate investment trust reported $2.75 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.81 by ($0.06). AvalonBay Communities had a net margin of 38.78% and a return on equity of 9.72%. The firm had revenue of $766.80 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $766.22 million. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $2.74 earnings per share. Research analysts predict that AvalonBay Communities, Inc. will post 11.48 EPS for the current year.

AvalonBay Communities Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, January 15th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, December 31st were given a dividend of $1.75 per share. This represents a $7.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.9%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, December 31st. AvalonBay Communities’s dividend payout ratio is currently 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.