New York State Common Retirement Fund Raises Position in AvalonBay Communities, Inc. $AVB

New York State Common Retirement Fund lifted its stake in shares of AvalonBay Communities, Inc. (NYSE:AVB) by 35.7% during the third quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 116,431 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after acquiring an additional 30,600 shares during the period. New York State Common Retirement Fund’s holdings in AvalonBay Communities were worth $22,491,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of AVB. Mather Group LLC. acquired a new position in AvalonBay Communities during the 3rd quarter worth $30,000. Clearstead Trust LLC boosted its stake in shares of AvalonBay Communities by 62.0% in the 2nd quarter. Clearstead Trust LLC now owns 162 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $33,000 after buying an additional 62 shares during the period. Headlands Technologies LLC acquired a new position in shares of AvalonBay Communities during the second quarter worth about $36,000. Hilltop National Bank acquired a new position in shares of AvalonBay Communities during the second quarter worth about $58,000. Finally, Atlantic Union Bankshares Corp purchased a new stake in shares of AvalonBay Communities during the second quarter worth approximately $59,000. 92.61% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts recently issued reports on the stock. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of AvalonBay Communities from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Sunday, January 25th. UBS Group decreased their price objective on shares of AvalonBay Communities from $192.00 to $191.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, January 8th. Evercore ISI reiterated an “in-line” rating and set a $214.00 target price on shares of AvalonBay Communities in a research note on Monday, November 3rd. Colliers Securities restated a “neutral” rating and issued a $195.00 price target (down from $200.00) on shares of AvalonBay Communities in a research note on Thursday, December 4th. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada decreased their price target on AvalonBay Communities from $202.00 to $197.00 and set a “sector perform” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, November 4th. Six analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and twelve have issued a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $203.50.

AvalonBay Communities Trading Up 1.6%

NYSE AVB opened at $177.63 on Friday. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $179.84 and its 200 day moving average price is $185.76. AvalonBay Communities, Inc. has a 12 month low of $166.73 and a 12 month high of $230.21. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.72, a current ratio of 0.67 and a quick ratio of 0.67. The company has a market capitalization of $25.15 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.69, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.99 and a beta of 0.75.

AvalonBay Communities (NYSE:AVB) last announced its quarterly earnings results 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). The company had revenue of $766.80 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $766.22 million. AvalonBay Communities had a net margin of 38.78% and a return on equity of 9.72%. During the same period last year, the firm earned $2.74 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts expect that AvalonBay Communities, Inc. will post 11.48 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

AvalonBay Communities Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, January 15th. Investors of record on Wednesday, December 31st were given a $1.75 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, December 31st. This represents a $7.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.9%. AvalonBay Communities’s dividend payout ratio 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.