L & S Advisors Inc Buys New Stake in AvalonBay Communities, Inc. (NYSE:AVB)

Key Points

• L & S Advisors Inc has acquired a new stake of 13,638 shares in AvalonBay Communities, valued around $2.93 million, during the first quarter of the year.
• Institutional investors dominate AvalonBay, with 92.61% of the stock held by hedge funds and other institutions, including significant purchases by Price T Rowe Associates and Northern Trust Corp in recent quarters.
• AvalonBay Communities recently declared a quarterly dividend of $1.75, which translates to an annualized dividend yield of 3.8% and a dividend payout ratio of 86.21%.

L & S Advisors Inc bought a new stake in shares of AvalonBay Communities, Inc. (NYSE:AVB - Free Report) in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm bought 13,638 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock, valued at approximately $2,927,000.

Several other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of AVB. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD raised its stake in 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 purchasing an additional 1,336,698 shares in the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp raised its stake in AvalonBay Communities by 54.8% during the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 2,642,743 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $581,324,000 after purchasing an additional 935,770 shares in the last quarter. Cohen & Steers Inc. raised its stake in AvalonBay Communities by 25.7% during the fourth quarter. Cohen & Steers Inc. now owns 3,130,108 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $688,527,000 after purchasing an additional 639,402 shares in the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC raised its stake in AvalonBay Communities by 21,024.3% during the first 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 in the last quarter. Finally, Adelante Capital Management LLC raised its stake in AvalonBay Communities by 1,186.4% during the fourth 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 in the last quarter. 92.61% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

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

AvalonBay Communities Price Performance

Shares of AVB stock opened at $184.35 on Friday. AvalonBay Communities, Inc. has a twelve month low of $180.40 and a twelve month high of $239.29. The stock has a market capitalization of $26.25 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.70, a P/E/G ratio of 2.48 and a beta of 0.86. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $202.91 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $208.42. The company has a current ratio of 0.51, a quick ratio of 0.51 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.71.

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

AvalonBay Communities Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, July 15th. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 30th were issued a $1.75 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, June 30th. This represents a $7.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.8%. AvalonBay Communities's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 86.21%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts recently issued reports on AVB shares. Morgan Stanley upped their price target on shares of AvalonBay Communities from $226.00 to $228.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Thursday, May 15th. Scotiabank dropped their price objective on shares of AvalonBay Communities from $251.00 to $236.00 and set a "sector perform" rating for the company in a research note on Friday, June 13th. Piper Sandler dropped their price objective on shares of AvalonBay Communities from $265.00 to $255.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research note on Monday, May 5th. Royal Bank Of Canada dropped their price objective on shares of AvalonBay Communities from $216.00 to $211.00 and set a "sector perform" rating for the company in a research note on Friday. Finally, Wall Street Zen raised shares of AvalonBay Communities from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Saturday. Nine equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $234.43.

About AvalonBay Communities

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.

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