Lighthouse Investment Partners LLC Sells 20,900 Shares of AvalonBay Communities, Inc. $AVB

Key Points

• Lighthouse Investment Partners cut its stake in AvalonBay by 24.8%, selling 20,900 shares to leave 63,300 shares valued at about $12.23 million, and institutional investors now own roughly 92.61% of the company.
• Analysts have trimmed price targets but the consensus rating is a Hold with an average target of $199.66, while AVB trades around $168.91, indicating the market price is below analyst expectations.
• AvalonBay slightly beat quarterly EPS estimates ($2.85 vs. $2.84) and increased its quarterly dividend to $1.78 ($7.12 annual) for a ~4.2% yield, with an ex-dividend date of March 31 and a payout ratio of 85.47%.

Lighthouse Investment Partners LLC lessened its stake in AvalonBay Communities, Inc. (NYSE:AVB - Free Report) by 24.8% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 63,300 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock after selling 20,900 shares during the quarter. Lighthouse Investment Partners LLC's holdings in AvalonBay Communities were worth $12,228,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. PFG Investments LLC increased its stake in AvalonBay Communities by 4.4% during the 3rd quarter. PFG Investments LLC now owns 1,456 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $281,000 after purchasing an additional 61 shares in the last quarter. Global Retirement Partners LLC lifted its stake in shares of AvalonBay Communities by 13.3% in the third quarter. Global Retirement Partners LLC now owns 564 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $109,000 after buying an additional 66 shares in the last quarter. Steward Partners Investment Advisory LLC grew its holdings in shares of AvalonBay Communities by 0.9% during the second quarter. Steward Partners Investment Advisory LLC now owns 8,126 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $1,654,000 after buying an additional 76 shares during the last quarter. BI Asset Management Fondsmaeglerselskab A S grew its holdings in shares of AvalonBay Communities by 1.5% during the third quarter. BI Asset Management Fondsmaeglerselskab A S now owns 5,779 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $1,116,000 after buying an additional 84 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. increased its position in shares of AvalonBay Communities by 2.7% during the second quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. now owns 3,298 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $671,000 after acquiring an additional 88 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 92.61% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages recently weighed in on AVB. Scotiabank decreased their price objective on shares of AvalonBay Communities from $193.00 to $190.00 and set a "sector perform" rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, March 4th. Citigroup reduced their target price on AvalonBay Communities from $212.00 to $198.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a report on Friday, February 13th. Piper Sandler decreased their price target on AvalonBay Communities from $190.00 to $183.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research note on Monday, February 9th. Truist Financial lowered their price target on AvalonBay Communities from $203.00 to $201.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, March 3rd. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada dropped their price objective on AvalonBay Communities from $191.00 to $187.00 and set a "sector perform" rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, February 6th. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and thirteen have issued a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, AvalonBay Communities has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $199.66.

AvalonBay Communities Trading Down 1.2%

Shares of AVB stock opened at $168.91 on Monday. 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 stock has a market capitalization of $23.66 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.62, a P/E/G ratio of 2.96 and a beta of 0.75. The firm's 50 day moving average is $177.26 and its 200 day moving average is $182.05.

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

AvalonBay Communities Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 15th. Investors of record on Tuesday, March 31st will be given a dividend of $1.78 per share. This represents a $7.12 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.2%. This is a boost from AvalonBay Communities's previous quarterly dividend of $1.75. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, March 31st. AvalonBay Communities's dividend payout ratio (DPR) 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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