Bank of Nova Scotia Sells 2,658 Shares of AvalonBay Communities, Inc. (NYSE:AVB)

Key Points

• The Bank of Nova Scotia reduced its stake in AvalonBay Communities, Inc. by 13.4%, selling 2,658 shares and retaining a total of 17,225 shares valued at approximately $3.7 million.
• Insider selling was noted as CFO Kevin P. O'Shea and EVP Edward M. Schulman sold significant shares, decreasing their ownership by 20.85% and 25.23%, respectively.
• AvalonBay recently declared a quarterly dividend of $1.75 per share, yielding about 3.8% annually, with a payout ratio of 86.21%.

Bank of Nova Scotia lowered its holdings in AvalonBay Communities, Inc. (NYSE:AVB - Free Report) by 13.4% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 17,225 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock after selling 2,658 shares during the quarter. Bank of Nova Scotia's holdings in AvalonBay Communities were worth $3,697,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in AVB. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD lifted its holdings in shares of AvalonBay Communities by 35.0% during the fourth quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 5,152,183 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $1,133,328,000 after acquiring an additional 1,336,698 shares during the period. Northern Trust Corp grew its holdings in shares of AvalonBay Communities by 54.8% in the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 2,642,743 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $581,324,000 after purchasing an additional 935,770 shares during the last quarter. Cohen & Steers Inc. increased its position in shares of AvalonBay Communities by 25.7% during the 4th quarter. Cohen & Steers Inc. now owns 3,130,108 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $688,527,000 after purchasing an additional 639,402 shares in the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its holdings in AvalonBay Communities by 21,024.3% during the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 550,500 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $118,148,000 after purchasing an additional 547,894 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Adelante Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in AvalonBay Communities by 1,186.4% during the 4th quarter. Adelante Capital Management LLC now owns 400,444 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $88,086,000 after purchasing an additional 369,316 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 92.61% of the company's stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other AvalonBay Communities news, CFO Kevin P. O'shea sold 6,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, June 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $207.57, for a total value of $1,245,420.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer owned 22,782 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $4,728,859.74. This represents a 20.85% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, EVP Edward M. Schulman sold 5,945 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, June 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $205.67, for a total transaction of $1,222,708.15. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 17,617 shares of the company's stock, valued at $3,623,288.39. The trade was a 25.23% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 0.45% of the company's stock.

AvalonBay Communities Price Performance

Shares of AVB stock traded down $1.50 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $186.74. 720,401 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 866,495. AvalonBay Communities, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $180.40 and a fifty-two week high of $239.29. The stock's fifty day moving average is $201.64 and its two-hundred day moving average is $207.60. The company has a market cap of $26.59 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.00, a P/E/G ratio of 2.53 and a beta of 0.86. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.71, a current ratio of 0.51 and a quick ratio of 0.51.

AvalonBay Communities (NYSE:AVB - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 30th. The real estate investment trust reported $2.82 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $2.80 by $0.02. The business had revenue of $689.90 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $759.08 million. AvalonBay Communities had a net margin of 38.91% and a return on equity of 9.70%. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $2.77 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts forecast that AvalonBay Communities, Inc. will post 11.48 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

AvalonBay Communities Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, July 15th. Investors of record on Monday, June 30th were paid a dividend of $1.75 per share. This represents a $7.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.7%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, June 30th. AvalonBay Communities's payout ratio is 86.21%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

AVB has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Piper Sandler reaffirmed a "neutral" rating and set a $200.00 price objective (down previously from $255.00) on shares of AvalonBay Communities in a report on Monday. UBS Group reduced their target price on AvalonBay Communities from $238.00 to $216.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, July 15th. Mizuho reduced their target price on AvalonBay Communities from $238.00 to $213.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a report on Friday, May 23rd. Evercore ISI reduced their target price on AvalonBay Communities from $229.00 to $216.00 and set an "in-line" rating on the stock in a report on Monday. Finally, Scotiabank reduced their target price on AvalonBay Communities from $251.00 to $236.00 and set a "sector perform" rating on the stock in a report on Friday, June 13th. Ten analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $228.79.

AvalonBay Communities Company Profile

AvalonBay Communities, Inc is a real estate investment trust, which engages in the development, acquisition, ownership, and operation of multifamily communities. It operates through the following segments: Same Store, Other Stabilized, and Development or Redevelopment. The Same Store segment refers to the operating communities that were owned and had stabilized occupancy.