AvalonBay Communities, Inc. $AVB Stock Position Cut by Spirit of America Management Corp NY

Key Points

• Spirit of America Management Corp NY trimmed its stake by 37% in AvalonBay during Q4, selling 6,400 shares and leaving 10,890 shares valued at about $1.97 million, and institutional investors now own roughly 92.61% of AVB's stock.
• Several analysts have cut price targets, leaving the stock with a consensus "Hold" rating and an average target of $198.44, while AVB trades near $161.51.
• AvalonBay boosted its quarterly dividend to $1.78 (annualized $7.12) for a roughly 4.4% yield and posted a slight quarterly EPS beat of $2.85 versus the $2.84 consensus.

Spirit of America Management Corp NY trimmed its stake in shares of AvalonBay Communities, Inc. (NYSE:AVB - Free Report) by 37.0% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 10,890 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock after selling 6,400 shares during the quarter. Spirit of America Management Corp NY's holdings in AvalonBay Communities were worth $1,974,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Metis Global Partners LLC lifted its position in AvalonBay Communities by 21.0% in the third quarter. Metis Global Partners LLC now owns 44,760 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $8,646,000 after purchasing an additional 7,780 shares during the period. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans boosted its stake in AvalonBay Communities by 3.1% during the 3rd quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans now owns 216,153 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $41,754,000 after purchasing an additional 6,511 shares in the last quarter. Sun Life Financial Inc. increased its position in shares of AvalonBay Communities by 5.7% during the 3rd quarter. Sun Life Financial Inc. now owns 161,087 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $31,117,000 after purchasing an additional 8,660 shares during the period. FORA Capital LLC increased its position in shares of AvalonBay Communities by 78.7% during the 2nd quarter. FORA Capital LLC now owns 15,702 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $3,195,000 after purchasing an additional 6,916 shares during the period. Finally, Amundi raised its stake in shares of AvalonBay Communities by 17.7% in the 2nd quarter. Amundi now owns 449,348 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $90,768,000 after buying an additional 67,695 shares in the last quarter. 92.61% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts have recently weighed in on AVB shares. Royal Bank Of Canada decreased their target price on AvalonBay Communities from $191.00 to $187.00 and set a "sector perform" rating for the company in a research note on Friday, February 6th. Piper Sandler dropped their price target on shares of AvalonBay Communities from $190.00 to $183.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, February 9th. UBS Group cut their price target 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. Weiss Ratings restated a "hold (c)" rating on shares of AvalonBay Communities in a research report on Friday, January 9th. Finally, Truist Financial lowered their price objective on shares of AvalonBay Communities from $203.00 to $201.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, March 3rd. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and fourteen have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $198.44.

AvalonBay Communities Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE AVB opened at $161.51 on Tuesday. The stock's fifty day simple moving average is $173.62 and its 200 day simple moving average is $179.76. The stock has a market capitalization of $22.62 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.72, a PEG ratio of 2.82 and a beta of 0.75. The company has a quick ratio of 0.77, a current ratio of 0.77 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.79. AvalonBay Communities, Inc. has a 52-week low of $160.35 and a 52-week high of $216.47.

AvalonBay Communities (NYSE:AVB - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, February 5th. The real estate investment trust reported $2.85 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.84 by $0.01. AvalonBay Communities had a return on equity of 8.78% and a net margin of 34.57%.The business had revenue of $767.86 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $766.38 million. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $2.80 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that AvalonBay Communities, Inc. will post 11.48 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

AvalonBay Communities Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 15th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, March 31st will be paid a dividend of $1.78 per share. This is a boost from AvalonBay Communities's previous quarterly dividend of $1.75. This represents a $7.12 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.4%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, March 31st. AvalonBay Communities's payout ratio is currently 85.47%.

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.

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