Pensionfund Sabic Acquires New Shares in AvalonBay Communities, Inc. $AVB

Key Points

• Pensionfund Sabic bought a new stake of 10,002 shares in AvalonBay Communities (NYSE: AVB) during Q4, valued at about $1.813 million.
• Analysts' consensus rating is "Hold" with a consensus target price of $198.75 versus the current price around $163.23, reflecting upside potential even as 13 analysts rate it Hold and 5 rate it Buy.
• AvalonBay raised its quarterly dividend to $1.78 (annualized $7.12), yielding roughly 4.4% with a dividend payout ratio near 85.5%.

Pensionfund Sabic bought a new stake in shares of AvalonBay Communities, Inc. (NYSE:AVB - Free Report) during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm bought 10,002 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock, valued at approximately $1,813,000.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of AVB. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. grew its stake in shares of AvalonBay Communities by 1.8% in the third quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. now owns 3,358 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $649,000 after acquiring an additional 60 shares during the period. PFG Investments LLC lifted its position in AvalonBay Communities by 4.4% during the third 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 during the period. Global Retirement Partners LLC boosted its holdings in 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 purchasing an additional 66 shares during the last quarter. Steward Partners Investment Advisory LLC grew its holdings in shares of AvalonBay Communities by 0.9% in the second quarter. Steward Partners Investment Advisory LLC now owns 8,126 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $1,654,000 after acquiring an additional 76 shares during the period. Finally, BI Asset Management Fondsmaeglerselskab A S grew its holdings in shares of AvalonBay Communities by 1.5% in the third quarter. BI Asset Management Fondsmaeglerselskab A S now owns 5,779 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $1,116,000 after acquiring an additional 84 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 92.61% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

AVB has been the topic of several research reports. Piper Sandler dropped their target price on AvalonBay Communities from $190.00 to $183.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, February 9th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lowered shares of AvalonBay Communities from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating and set a $172.00 price target for the company. in a research report on Tuesday, January 20th. Royal Bank Of Canada lowered their price objective on shares of AvalonBay Communities from $191.00 to $187.00 and set a "sector perform" rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, February 6th. Weiss Ratings reissued a "hold (c)" rating on shares of AvalonBay Communities in a report on Friday, January 9th. Finally, Truist Financial cut their target price on shares of AvalonBay Communities from $203.00 to $201.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, March 3rd. Five analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and thirteen have assigned a Hold rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $198.75.

AvalonBay Communities Stock Performance

NYSE AVB opened at $163.23 on Wednesday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.77, a current ratio of 0.77 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.79. AvalonBay Communities, Inc. has a twelve month low of $160.72 and a twelve month high of $217.32. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $175.15 and a 200-day moving average price of $180.67. The firm has a market cap of $22.86 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.93, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.86 and a beta of 0.75.

AvalonBay Communities (NYSE:AVB - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, February 5th. The real estate investment trust reported $2.85 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.84 by $0.01. The company had revenue of $767.86 million for 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 quarter last year, the company earned $2.80 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts predict that AvalonBay Communities, Inc. will post 11.48 EPS for the current fiscal year.

AvalonBay Communities Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 15th. Investors of record on Tuesday, March 31st will be paid a dividend of $1.78 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, March 31st. This is a positive change from AvalonBay Communities's previous quarterly dividend of $1.75. This represents a $7.12 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.4%. AvalonBay Communities's dividend payout ratio is 85.47%.

About AvalonBay Communities

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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