Gotham Asset Management LLC Purchases 67,242 Shares of AvalonBay Communities, Inc. $AVB

Key Points

• Gotham Asset Management boosted its AvalonBay (AVB) stake by 83.8%, buying 67,242 shares to hold 147,500 shares worth about $28.49 million (roughly 0.10% of the company).
• Institutional ownership is very high at 92.61%, with large investors such as Vanguard, State Street, JPMorgan, Norges Bank and Charles Schwab recently adding to or holding significant positions.
• AvalonBay raised its quarterly dividend to $1.78 ($7.12 annual, ~4.2% yield); the stock trades near $169.20, has a consensus "Hold" rating with a $198.75 price target, and a market cap of about $23.7 billion.

Gotham Asset Management LLC lifted its holdings in AvalonBay Communities, Inc. (NYSE:AVB - Free Report) by 83.8% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 147,500 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock after purchasing an additional 67,242 shares during the period. Gotham Asset Management LLC owned about 0.10% of AvalonBay Communities worth $28,493,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its position in AvalonBay Communities by 0.6% in the second quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 22,800,375 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $4,639,876,000 after acquiring an additional 127,693 shares during the period. State Street Corp raised its holdings in AvalonBay Communities by 2.0% in the 2nd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 9,445,499 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $1,938,326,000 after purchasing an additional 182,952 shares during the period. Norges Bank bought a new position in AvalonBay Communities in the 2nd quarter worth $1,394,225,000. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted its position in AvalonBay Communities by 6.3% during the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 4,215,821 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $814,376,000 after purchasing an additional 249,171 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its holdings in AvalonBay Communities by 23.2% during the second quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 2,816,163 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $573,091,000 after purchasing an additional 530,274 shares during the period. 92.61% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

AVB has been the topic of several recent research reports. Truist Financial decreased their price objective on AvalonBay Communities from $203.00 to $201.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, March 3rd. Wall Street Zen cut shares of AvalonBay Communities from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a research note on Saturday, February 7th. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a "hold (c)" rating on shares of AvalonBay Communities in a report on Friday, January 9th. Cantor Fitzgerald upped their price target on shares of AvalonBay Communities from $179.00 to $186.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Monday, February 9th. Finally, Scotiabank decreased their price objective on shares of AvalonBay Communities from $193.00 to $190.00 and set a "sector perform" rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, March 4th. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and thirteen have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $198.75.

AvalonBay Communities Stock Up 0.1%

Shares of AVB opened at $169.20 on Tuesday. The business's 50 day moving average is $177.03 and its 200 day moving average is $181.87. The company has a current ratio of 0.77, a quick ratio of 0.77 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.79. AvalonBay Communities, Inc. has a 12-month low of $166.73 and a 12-month high of $217.32. The company has a market capitalization of $23.70 billion, a PE ratio of 20.66, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.96 and a beta of 0.75.

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

AvalonBay Communities Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 15th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, March 31st will be issued a $1.78 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, March 31st. This represents a $7.12 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.2%. This is an increase from AvalonBay Communities's previous quarterly dividend of $1.75. AvalonBay Communities's payout ratio is presently 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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