American Century Companies Inc. Trims Position in AvalonBay Communities, Inc. $AVB

American Century Companies Inc. lowered its position in AvalonBay Communities, Inc. (NYSE:AVB) by 9.6% in the third quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 243,316 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after selling 25,985 shares during the quarter. American Century Companies Inc.’s holdings in AvalonBay Communities were worth $47,001,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Mather Group LLC. acquired a new position in AvalonBay Communities in the 3rd quarter valued at about $30,000. Clearstead Trust LLC raised its position in shares of AvalonBay Communities by 62.0% during 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. AlphaQuest LLC acquired a new position in AvalonBay Communities in the third quarter valued at approximately $33,000. Headlands Technologies LLC purchased a new position in AvalonBay Communities in the second quarter worth approximately $36,000. Finally, Atlantic Union Bankshares Corp acquired a new stake in AvalonBay Communities during the second quarter worth $59,000. 92.61% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts have recently commented on AVB shares. Citigroup decreased their price target on AvalonBay Communities from $212.00 to $198.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, February 13th. Colliers Securities reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and issued a $195.00 target price (down from $200.00) on shares of AvalonBay Communities in a research report on Thursday, December 4th. Scotiabank lowered their target price on shares of AvalonBay Communities from $193.00 to $190.00 and set a “sector perform” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of AvalonBay Communities in a research report on Friday, January 9th. Finally, Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of AvalonBay Communities from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Saturday, February 7th. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and thirteen have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $200.59.

AvalonBay Communities Stock Up 0.5%

Shares of NYSE:AVB opened at $179.07 on Friday. AvalonBay Communities, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $166.73 and a fifty-two week high of $223.25. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $178.35 and its 200 day moving average price is $182.94. The company has a quick ratio of 0.67, a current ratio of 0.77 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.79. The stock has a market cap of $25.08 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.86, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.12 and a beta of 0.75.

AvalonBay Communities (NYSE:AVB) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 5th. The real estate investment trust reported $2.85 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.84 by $0.01. AvalonBay Communities had a net margin of 34.57% and a return on equity of 8.78%. The company had revenue of $767.86 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $766.38 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $2.80 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts predict that AvalonBay Communities, Inc. will post 11.48 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

AvalonBay Communities Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 15th. Investors of record on Tuesday, March 31st will be issued a $1.78 dividend. This represents a $7.12 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.0%. This is a boost from AvalonBay Communities’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.75. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, March 31st. AvalonBay Communities’s dividend payout ratio is currently 86.94%.

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.