ABC Arbitrage SA Boosts Stock Position in AvalonBay Communities, Inc. $AVB

ABC Arbitrage SA boosted its position in AvalonBay Communities, Inc. (NYSE:AVB) by 1,310.7% in the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 22,924 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after purchasing an additional 21,299 shares during the quarter. ABC Arbitrage SA’s holdings in AvalonBay Communities were worth $3,745,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of AVB. Auto Owners Insurance Co boosted its stake in AvalonBay Communities by 18,031.0% in the fourth quarter. Auto Owners Insurance Co now owns 11,785,150 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $213,677,000 after acquiring an additional 11,720,150 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp lifted its holdings in shares of AvalonBay Communities by 1.0% during the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 9,537,966 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $1,858,788,000 after purchasing an additional 92,467 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of AvalonBay Communities in the 4th quarter worth $1,394,635,000. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted its position in shares of AvalonBay Communities by 22.4% in the 4th quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 5,159,950 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $935,551,000 after purchasing an additional 944,129 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Principal Financial Group Inc. grew its stake in AvalonBay Communities by 9.3% during the 4th quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 4,497,047 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $815,360,000 after buying an additional 383,983 shares during the last quarter. 92.61% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

AvalonBay Communities Stock Performance

Shares of AVB stock opened at $194.65 on Tuesday. The business has a fifty day moving average of $186.36 and a 200 day moving average of $178.85. AvalonBay Communities, Inc. has a 1 year low of $160.10 and a 1 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 firm has a market capitalization of $27.65 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.21, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.34 and a beta of 0.77.

AvalonBay Communities (NYSE:AVB) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 28th. The real estate investment trust reported $2.33 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.80 by ($0.47). The firm had revenue of $770.28 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $768.80 million. AvalonBay Communities had a net margin of 37.21% and a return on equity of 9.56%. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $2.83 EPS. As a group, research analysts expect that AvalonBay Communities, Inc. will post 11.28 earnings per share for the current year.

AvalonBay Communities Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, July 15th. Investors of record on Tuesday, June 30th will be given a $1.78 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, June 30th. This represents a $7.12 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.7%. AvalonBay Communities’s dividend payout ratio is currently 103.19%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts recently issued reports on AVB shares. Jefferies Financial Group raised AvalonBay Communities to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, June 26th. Cantor Fitzgerald boosted their price target on AvalonBay Communities from $186.00 to $190.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, May 4th. Piper Sandler boosted their price target on AvalonBay Communities from $183.00 to $195.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, May 29th. Barclays cut their price objective on shares of AvalonBay Communities from $206.00 to $203.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, May 11th. Finally, Scotiabank lifted their target price on shares of AvalonBay Communities from $187.00 to $195.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 9th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and fourteen have issued a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, AvalonBay Communities has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $195.67.

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.