Nordea Investment Management AB Has $80.45 Million Stock Holdings in AvalonBay Communities, Inc. $AVB

Key Points

• Nordea Investment Management AB increased its AvalonBay stake by 4.1%, adding 17,352 shares to hold 444,222 shares valued at $80.45 million (about 0.31% of the company), while institutional ownership stands at roughly 92.6% with large recent buys from Norges Bank, Invesco, Bank of America and Charles Schwab.
• Dividend raised: AvalonBay declared a quarterly dividend of $1.78 (annualized $7.12) for a yield of 4.4%, with an ex-dividend date of March 31 and a payout ratio of about 86.9%.
• Analysts have trimmed targets and the consensus rating is "Hold" with an average price target of $198.75 versus the recent share price near $163, even after a slight quarterly EPS beat of $2.85 (vs. $2.84 expected).

Nordea Investment Management AB boosted its holdings in shares of AvalonBay Communities, Inc. (NYSE:AVB - Free Report) by 4.1% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 444,222 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock after acquiring an additional 17,352 shares during the quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB owned 0.31% of AvalonBay Communities worth $80,449,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in AVB. Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of AvalonBay Communities in the second quarter worth $1,394,225,000. Invesco Ltd. raised its position in AvalonBay Communities by 70.2% during the 2nd quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 2,593,727 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $527,823,000 after purchasing an additional 1,069,793 shares during the last quarter. Bank of America Corp DE raised its position in AvalonBay Communities by 76.0% during the 3rd quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 2,355,838 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $455,077,000 after purchasing an additional 1,017,286 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its holdings in AvalonBay Communities by 23.2% during the 2nd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 2,816,163 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $573,091,000 after buying an additional 530,274 shares during the period. Finally, Bahl & Gaynor Inc. lifted its holdings in AvalonBay Communities by 126.5% during the 3rd quarter. Bahl & Gaynor Inc. now owns 555,832 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $107,370,000 after buying an additional 310,412 shares during the period. 92.61% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Truist Financial decreased their price target on AvalonBay Communities from $203.00 to $201.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, March 3rd. Citigroup cut their price objective on AvalonBay Communities from $212.00 to $198.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, February 13th. Barclays reduced their target price on AvalonBay Communities from $217.00 to $202.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a report on Friday, March 6th. Weiss Ratings reissued a "hold (c)" rating on shares of AvalonBay Communities in a research report on Friday, January 9th. Finally, UBS Group lowered 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. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and thirteen have given a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $198.75.

AvalonBay Communities Stock Performance

AVB stock opened at $163.06 on Tuesday. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $175.46 and a 200-day moving average price of $180.90. AvalonBay Communities, Inc. has a 1-year low of $160.72 and a 1-year high of $217.32. The company has a current ratio of 0.77, a quick ratio of 0.77 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.79. The firm has a market cap of $22.84 billion, a PE ratio of 19.91, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.83 and a beta of 0.75.

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

AvalonBay Communities Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 15th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, March 31st will be paid a $1.78 dividend. This represents a $7.12 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.4%. This is a boost from AvalonBay Communities's previous quarterly dividend of $1.75. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, March 31st. AvalonBay Communities's payout ratio is presently 86.94%.

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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